A. Wade Kach letter to C. K., March 16, 1992

A. Wade Kach TENTH LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT BALTIMORE COUNTY COMMITTEE: ECONOMIC MATTERS House of Delegates Annapolis . Maryland 21401-1991 March 16, 1992 Home Address: 214 ASHLAND ROAD COCKEYSVILLE. MARYLAND 21030-1902 HOME PHONE: (410) 527-1962 Legislative Address: (JANUARY - APRIL) 309 LOWE BUILDING ANNAPOLIS. MARYLAND 21401 -1991 LEGISLATIVE PHONE: (410) 841-3350 Thank you for letting me know of your opposition to Governor Schaefer's proposal to ban the sale of certain semi-automatic weapons and require a permit to own previously purchased assault weapons . In light of Maryland's spiraling crime rate, I can certainly understand the fear that pervades our community. The perpetrators of these horrendous crimes obviously have little fear of the con¬ sequences. It is sad to say that this is the case because Mary¬ land has a reputation of being soft on crime. It has been my consistent position that Maryland will signif¬ icantly reduce crime only when we reform our criminal justice system. We will see a reduction in the spiraling crime rate when people know that committing a crime will result in definite appropriate punishment. Maryland needs more prisons; sentences for various violent crimes need to be made non-parolable; and our Parole Board policies must be toughened, etc. No matter what laws we pass to limit the availability of weapons, the criminal will have a far better shot at obtain¬ ing them. Statistics show that 70 percent of the weapons obtained by criminals come from illegal sources. Passage of this proposed gun legislation will have little effect in reducing crime, while further limiting the avail¬ ability of such weapons to law-abiding citizens who either collect and/or hunt for their own pleasure. Therefore, I voted against the assault weapon legislation. I will continue to support legislation mandating lengthy non-parolable sentences for individuals convicted of commit¬ ting crimes with a deadly weapon. Sincerely, A. Wade Kach AWK : pd