In 2013, Martin O’Malley enacted some of the toughest gun laws in the U.S. as governor of Maryland. Now he wants to take them to the national stage as president.
In a gun control policy proposal released on Monday, O’Malley calls for universal background checks, fingerprint licensing and the establishment of a national firearms registry.
O’Malley, who once served as the mayor of Baltimore, also calls for setting a national minimum age requirement for handgun possession at age 21, as well as reversing a 2005 law that protects gun makers and gun dealers from lawsuits brought by the families of gun violence victims.
The aggressive plan will help cut gun-related murders, suicides and accidents by half by 2025, according to the O’Malley campaign memo.
O’Malley’s progressive proposal comes as he struggles for support among Democrats. He currently polls fourth behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Vice President Joe Biden, who has not announced his candidacy.
O’Malley’s proposal “will require all individuals who seek to purchase or transfer any gun to obtain a fingerprint-based license, and complete safety training with a waiting period, in addition to passing a background check.”
The proposal is similar to a bill floated earlier this year by Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen.
O’Malley’s plan would also require the “responsible storage of guns at home.” The plan does not detail the safety standards, but it hints at mandatory gun safes and locks.
O’Malley’s call for a federal minimum age requirement of 21 applies mostly to handgun possession. Federal law already limits handgun sales to those 21 or older, but the minimum for possession is 18 in many states.
“A full quarter of gun crimes are committed by individuals 21 years-old and younger, based on data from 13 states; and guns are used in 38 percent of suicides among young people,” according to the memo.
The proposal also rejects calls for national concealed carry reciprocity, a move gun rights groups support, which would require all states to recognize concealed carry licenses issued in other states. O’Malley asserts that many states’ concealed carry laws are “extraordinarily weak” and that they approve licenses to who lack proper training or have violent criminal records.
Maryland is one of the few states in the U.S. that does not honor concealed carry permits from any other state.
O’Malley would also overturn the federal law that prohibits the establishment of a national firearms registry, calling for a database which would maintain gun purchase records “electronically and indefinitely.”
The plan would also mandate the reporting of lost or stolen firearms, as well as require microstamping for all guns — something the National Rifle Association has called a “de facto gun ban.”
O’Malley’s plan also comes down hard on gun manufacturers and licensed sellers.
Whereas the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is allowed one unannounced inspection on gun dealers every year, O’Mally would lift the inspections cap to allow as many random inspections as the agency feels is warranted.
He would also make it easier to revoke licenses for gun dealers who break the law by overturning the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. The law effectively prohibits lawsuits against gun makers and dealers in cases where their firearms are used illegally.
Overturning the law will give “victims of mass shootings the ability to hold irresponsible gun manufacturers and dealers accountable,” O’Malley states.
O’Malley’s attack on that law is a veiled shot at Sanders, who, as a congressman, supported the bill.