(1-1-2006) Last summer the town of Boonsboro reminded us again that headlines make for bad laws. Reacting to the possibility of a KKK rally in its park, and seeking any way possible to control an imagined crisis, they enacted one of the first local gun bans outside of Montgomery County. (In a panic someone screamed “we’ve got to do something!” The council did.) Boonsboro’s leaders ignored the many tougher state laws that let police crack down on irresponsible behavior, and instead claimed they found a loophole in the state’s strong preemption law (a point that may be tested in court.)
Now cooler heads may prevail, as the Mayor is working in good faith with members of the firearms community to draft a repeal for consideration early in the new year. We applaud the effort. A local ban cannot be allowed to stand. It won’t take long for ambitious officials in other localities (perhaps with more nefarious intentions) to ‘make a statement’ too. As a result, citizens will soon face a patchwork quilt of inconsistent gun laws, which will needlessly snare unwary gun owners for othewise responsible behavior. Western Maryland would not have been our first guess as birthplace of a new wave of gun control battles to sweep across the state. Hopefully its citizens will tell their elected officials that’s not how they want their town to be known too.