Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley wants a gun-owner fingerprint database

The Governor of Maryland plans to introduce a comprehensive package of proposals designed to curb gun violence, according to a handful of anonymous aides who spoke to the Washington Post. Martin O'Malley, who was elected in 2007 and expects to be as prominent a Democratic presidential contender in 2016 as fellow gun-control hawk Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has written up legislation that, if enacted, would ban assault weapons and — perhaps most significantly — require all new gun owners to submit to a fingerprint database, in order to contain the illicit distribution of guns via so-called "straw purchases":

Vincent DeMarco, a Maryland-based public-health advocate and gun-control activist, said the sort of licensing system that O’Malley is proposing can significantly curb “straw purchases” — the buying of a gun for someone who is prohibited by law from possessing one. [...]

“It really is the most effective tool a state can use to reduce gun deaths,” DeMarco said. “I’m thrilled Governor O’Malley is proposing this. Straw purchases is the way criminals get guns.”

Read more at The Atlantic Wire. 

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