Lexington Park, MD – Three new gun laws went into effect Monday, Oct. 1, effectively banning bump stocks, requiring convicted domestic abusers to surrender their guns, and a “red flag” law that allows family and law enforcement to petition for a “1-year lethal violence protective order” against an individual who “poses an immediate and present danger.”

The “red flag” laws specifically take the respondent [person the petition is filed against]’s right to “custody or control or from owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving any firearms or ammunition for a period of 1 year.” According to the bill, the petitioner must provide evidence for why the respondent is a threat, and a hearing date should be set “not later than 14 days after receipt of a petition.” If issued the lethal violence protective order, the respondent can “request one hearing to terminate the order within the first six months after the order’s effective date.”

Signing these three laws had contributed to Gov. Hogan being downgraded in the NRA’s grading, moving from an A- to a C. Hogan also lost the endorsement from the NRA, which he had when he ran in 2014.

Multiple delegates from Southern Maryland voted against the red flag laws and bump stock ban: Mark Fisher [R- District 27C], Matt Morgan R-District 29A], Deb Rey [R-District 29B) and Jerry Clark [R-29C]. Rey was the lone member of Southern Maryland’s delegation to vote against the law requiring convicted domestic abusers to surrender their guns and she was only one of four in the Maryland House of Delegates who voted nay.

TheBayNet.com reached out to both Rey and Morgan for quotes. Morgan had this to say on the red flag law, “Of course we want to get guns out of the hands of people that are mentally ill, even the NRA supports a version of the Red Flag legislation.  Unfortunately, amendments we offered to get mental health protections into this bill was voted down multiple times so when it comes down to it I don’t think it fixes anything and frankly, the chances of this bill being misused are high.”

Del. Deb Rey still hadn’t gotten back to TheBayNet at the time of this article.

Contact Jerold at staffwriter@thebaynet.com.