Maryland Delegate Pam Queen’s (D) proposed legislation, HB 704, is a dangerous and unconstitutional assault on the rights of gun owners. The bill would require an “embedded tracker” to be added to firearms before they can be transferred in a sale. This Orwellian solution is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt by anti-gun politicians to infringe on the Second Amendment right of citizens to keep and bear arms.
The tracking device would be embedded into the firearm so that it cannot be removed without rendering the gun permanently inoperable or destroying it altogether. This requirement would impose an insurmountable burden on law-abiding citizens who wish to transfer firearms between family members and friends, as well as small businesses that engage in such transfers.
Furthermore, this proposal is technologically impossible because many guns are composed of multiple parts from different manufacturers which may not all have compatible tracking systems. Additionally, there is no guarantee that these tracking devices will work properly and could potentially lead to false alerts which could cause undue panic when police respond without understanding what has happened.
Not only is this bill a violation of privacy rights and constitutional protections against illegal search and seizure, but it also serves as a waste of taxpayer dollars with no guaranteed outcomes or returns on investment. It should also be noted that criminals do not purchase firearms through legal channels like those mentioned above; they obtain them illegally through theft or black market purchases where tracking devices would be virtually useless.
It appears that Pam Queen’s misguided proposal was crafted with little regard for public safety or practicality. If implemented, HB 704 would only serve to make life more difficult for law-abiding citizens while doing nothing whatsoever to stop criminal activity involving firearms.
Maryland Lawmakers Want Sci-Fi Technology to Track Your Guns in Real Time https://t.co/CAr00Pkrq4 @NSSF #NSSF #2A
— Larry Keane (@lkeane) February 10, 2023
