Law Prompts Handgun Sales to Drop Sharply in Md.

Josey1

Law Prompts Handgun Sales to Drop Sharply in Md. State Testing Slows Weapons Shipments E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version Subscribe to The Post By Craig WhitlockWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, October 11, 2001; Page GZ03 Handgun sales in Maryland have plunged this year and are on pace to reach their lowest annual total in more than a decade, the result of a new gun-control law that has slowed firearm shipments into the state.Although demand for firearms has risen since the terrorist attacks last month, records show that the number of people seeking to purchase revolvers and pistols since Jan. 1 has dwindled dramatically, primarily because of the law requiring Maryland State Police to collect ballistics information about each new handgun sold.During the first nine months of the year, state police processed 17,909 applications to buy handguns. At that rate, fewer than 24,000 people would apply to buy handguns this year -- a 30 percent decline from 2000.It would also be the lowest annual total in at least 12 years, according to state police statistics."There's been a spike in the past few weeks, but things were pretty slow before that," said Sanford Abrams, owner of Valley Guns in Towson and vice president of the Maryland Association of Licensed Firearms Dealers. Abrams said he used to sell 200 to 300 Glock pistols annually but expects to sell fewer than two dozen of that brand this year.The decline marks a sharp reversal from the past two years. In 1998, 27,667 people had applied to buy guns. Gun sales soared higher in 1999, when 33,038 people applied to buy handguns in response to millennial fears. They continued to rise last year, partly in anticipation of the passage of more gun-control laws in Maryland.But handgun purchases began to drop soon after Oct. 1, 2000, when the new ballistics rule took effect. The measure, part of a broader gun-control law passed by legislators last year, requires firearms manufacturers to provide state police with a shell casing test-fired from every new handgun sold in Maryland. Rifles and shotguns were exempted from the requirement.The spent shells contain markings and grooves that are unique to each gun, similar to fingerprints from the human hand. By scanning microscopic images from the casings into a database, police can sometimes determine that ammunition used in different crimes was fired from the same gun.Maryland was the first state to enact a "ballistics fingerprints" law, although New York has since followed suit and other states, including California, are considering similar measures.Many gun manufacturers, however, simply stopped shipping their products to Maryland rather than comply with the law, saying it was not worth the expense to change their production lines to suit a state that accounts for only 2 percent of handgun sales nationwide."The law essentially barred guns from entering the state," said Carl Roy, owner of Marlboro Small Arms, a shooting range and gun store in Upper Marlboro."It was a real mess there for a while," he said. "The manufacturers weren't geared up to ship guns into the state, so there weren't any to sell."The law did not cover used handguns or weapons manufactured before the deadline, but gun dealers said they quickly exhausted their inventories of those items. After retailers complained that they were running out of products to sell, state officials agreed to a compromise plan that allowed manufacturers to resume handgun shipments without shell casings.Instead, since June, gun dealers have had the option of taking the weapons to one of six firing ranges in Maryland where technicians hired by the state police test-fire the guns and collect the spent casings. The test costs $20 and is assessed to the gun buyer.Lt. Bud Frank, a state police spokesman, said the arrangement has worked well. "We've made it as convenient as possible," he said.But it's only a temporary measure. The state police test-fire program is supposed to expire in December. After that, manufacturers will no longer be able to deliver handguns to the state without including a shell casing.Frank said that police anticipate that handgun sales will rebound until then -- partly in response to the terrorist attacks, but also because demand usually increases during the Christmas shopping season."Sales can fluctuate up and down dramatically over a long period of time," he said. "But I don't think they'll drop back down anymore for a while."c 2001 The Washington Post Company http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37781-2001Oct10.html