The measure originally aimed to criminalize the carry or transport of a handgun, either openly or concealed, within 100 yards of a public building, park, church, school, or “other place of public assembly” with a mandatory penalty of one-year imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.A flawed bill, for two reasons:
First, assuming the phrase "other place of public assembly" is not explicitly defined in the actual bill, that could mean a movie theater ... or almost any place where the public assembles. Example: A Shopping Mall.
Second, assuming the phrase "transport of a handgun" means having a handgun in your car as you drive through town, it's almost impossible to chart a "safe" route through town on your way to or from (for example) a Shooting Range.
To illustrate the complexity of this problem, you should avail yourself of a map of a city, municipality, etc. and identify and mark the locations of every " public building, park, church, school, or “other place of public assembly”.
I couldn't do that with 100% confidence in my home town, or even a small town.
Hell, I live within 100 yards of both a church and a park. I couldn't even leave my driveway without violating such a law.
It is idiosyncratic of politicians (not just Liberals, but all of them) to resolve every problem by throwing a law at it. Plan "B" is to throw money at it. That's their entire toolbox. It is reasonable to expect no more effective plans from a group of people who are elected by popular votes.
I would give Baltimore politicians credit for at least trying to resolve their high-mortality rate of Gangsters with Guns, but passing new laws like this one only serves to criminalize law-abiding citizens.
