Finally there’s some good gun news coming out of Maryland. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan has signed Senate Bill 736, which removes the current mandate for firearm manufacturers to submit shell casings for all handguns sold in the state.
Based on a law adopted in 2000, manufacturers have been sending shell casings to be stored in the state’s ballistics imaging database. That database has then been cross-referenced against casings left at crime scenes. The problem? Not a single match has ever been made nor case solved as a result.
First introduced by Republican state Sen. Edward R. Reilly, SB 736 will now serve to effectively shut down an unfunded and unsuccessful program. And that’s a win-win for taxpayers and gun manufacturers.
