Safe Silver Spring Annual Legislative Forum Focuses on Gun Safety (PHOTO)
Gun safety was a hot top at the Safe Silver Spring Annual Legislative Forum held on Thursday night. Residents, political leaders and activists gathered at the Silver Spring Civic Center to discuss human trafficking, police body cameras, immigrant deportations and criminal justice reform.
Councilmember Marc Elrich, Councilmember Tom Hucker, State Senator Jamie Raskin and Delegate Kathleen Dumais were some of the featured speakers at the event.
Tony Hausner is the chair of Safe Silver Spring and has many concerns related to public safety.
“We certainly supported gun safety legislation in 2013 so we’re definitely very interested in that. I think the other topics [like] sexual trafficking is a major problem. The deportation issue is a concern to me at least, I haven’t consulted with my board yet. Body cameras are certainly a valuable tool and we are interested in what the legislation would look like,” said Hausner.
Councilmember Elrich is the chair of the Public Safety Committee and one of the sponsors of Thursday night’s forum.
“The council is committed to having body cameras. It’s going to get negotiated with the union, but at the end of the day officers are going to wear body cameras. There going to be on when they need to be on and it’s going to hold everybody accountable,” said Elrich.
Mike Tabor, a gun owner and resident of Montgomery County is concerned about the reach of gun lobbying groups.
“I am a gun owner and a farmer, but I am distressed by the power of the NRA (National Rifle Association) and a willingness to allow so much weaponry irregardless of whether its a question of being used for hunting purposes or committing acts of violence,” said Tabor.
Gun proponents were also present during the forum. Dan Blasberg is the President of Maryland Shall Issue, a non-partisan organization that advocates for gun owners’ rights in Maryland.
“We’re concerned about Senator Raskin’s bill with regards to the terror watch list for the simple fact that there’s no due process to end up on the list. Every other [deterrent] to prevent somebody from owning a firearm goes through judicial review and there’s proper due process,” said Blasberg.
To learn more about Safe Silver Spring you can click the link here.
Safe Silver Spring host annual legislative forum tonight focusing on gun safety. @mymcmedia pic.twitter.com/Y3tEithxvr
— Willie James Inman (@imwilljames) January 8, 2016
.@Marc_Elrich says the @MoCoCouncilMD Is committed to the use of police body cameras. @mymcmedia pic.twitter.com/6lPTjNFqSJ
— Willie James Inman (@imwilljames) January 8, 2016
.@tomhucker says “There’s a lot more we need to do for victims of human trafficking.” @mymcmedia pic.twitter.com/3FxTK4Cpde
— Willie James Inman (@imwilljames) January 8, 2016
Excellent article on a very effective meeting.