Jan. 22: County Council Public Hearing and More

The Montgomery County Council at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 22, will hold a public hearing on Bill 33-12 that would ban smoking on property owned or leased by Montgomery County. The ban would include all County properties except public rights of way. Councilmember Nancy Floreen is the chief sponsor of the bill.

The Council’s regular session will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Third Floor Council Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). The broadcast will be available via streaming through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov. It will be rebroadcast on Friday, Jan. 25, starting at 9 p.m.

The Council’s Health and Human Services Commission is scheduled to hold a worksession on Bill 33-12 on Jan. 31. Councilmembers Phil Andrews, Marc Elrich, Nancy Navarro, Hans Riemer and Craig Rice are co-sponsors of the legislation. A public hearing on the bill that was originally scheduled for Jan. 15 was postponed and rescheduled to Tuesday.

During the morning session, the Council is scheduled to take action on a resolution that offers its support of state and federal legislation regulating the sale of guns and ammunition. The resolution states, in part, “There are many legitimate, law-abiding reasons to own a firearm. However, assault weapons, armor piercing bullets and large capacity magazines have the ability to kill and maim large numbers of human beings, but have limited usefulness for hunters and other law-abiding citizens.”

The resolution goes on to say: “The Council believes that regulating access to firearms and ammunition to ensure that only individuals who intend to use their weapons for law-abiding purposes are able to purchase them is essential to the safety of our children and families.”

At 12:30 p.m., Councilmembers will hold an informal lunch meeting with the directors of the county’s regional service centers. The meeting will be held in the Sixth Floor Conference Room. The meeting is open to the public, but will not be televised.

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