One of the strictest gun laws in the nation went into effect in Maryland on Tuesday. The new law bans assault rifles and high capacity magazines, and makes Maryland one of only six states that requires handgun purchasers to get fingerprinted and take gun safety courses.
Gun owners in the state aren't happy, and in recent weeks, they've been flocking to snap up firearms. On Monday, outside Fred's Sporting Goods in Waldorf, there was a huge crowd and a countdown sign advertising: "1 day left."
The law is just a lot of "bureaucratic nonsense," says gun owner Leslie Cates. "I want to be able to own and have what I like and what I want, and I don't feel like the government should be able to tell me what I can and can't have and how I have to get it."
Gary Gilroy, also shopping at Fred's, says the new law infringes on his rights. "I think it's unconstitutional," he says. "It's against the Second Amendment."
A Surge Of Registrations
Joe Herbert, the store owner, says he was ready for the onslaught of customers ahead of the deadline. "I got full staff for the last week and a half ... working overtime," he says.
And, he says, he can't keep his shelves stocked. In recent weeks he's done about five times his usual sales.
It's been like this all over the state. Sgt. Marc Black, a spokesperson with the Maryland State Police, the organization responsible for processing background checks, says the office has been "working 21 hours a day, seven days a week."
As of September 20, he says, "we're looking at 106,000 applications."
That's more than double the number for all of 2011 and represents an unprecedented surge in gun purchases, he says.
The rush on firearms started after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., when President Obama started pushing Congress to tighten federal gun laws. That didn't happen, but in Maryland, lawmakers got behind state legislation.
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