Gun Rights Activists Rally in Annapolis

Today hundreds of gun rights advocates came to Annapolis from all over Maryland to protest Governor Martin O’Malley’s proposed firearms restrictions. WYPR’s Karen Hosler filed this report.

Karen Hosler: Potential witnesses for a gun control hearing waited hours in a line that snaked two floors through an office building and out into the streets, where it was punctuated by a rally and saluted by a soaring bald eagle.

Jay Cochran: I hope that our side is sending a message that Maryland legislators will listen to.

Hosler: That was Jay Cochran, who came by bus from Cumberland this morning with fifty-five other opponents. O’Malley, lead-off witness in a hearing expected to last into the night, took a diplomatic tack.

Governor Martin O'Malley: It’s my honor to stand before you today on this important issue and also to stand with neighbors who have differences of opinion.”

Hosler: Of course, most of those neighbors had to stand outside because access to the building was finally shut off. But they seemed intent on making their point. I’m Karen Hosler, reporting in Annapolis, for 88.1 WYPR