Man who lost court case explains his gun permit
Today's Crime Scenes takes a look at Ed Hale, the banking executive who got caught bringing a loaded gun to BWI, and was allowed to keep his permit after accepting probation before judgment, and Anthony McLean, who lost a bid before the state's second highest court to keep his permit despite having been convicted of a misdemeanor crime in 1983.
The column details the legal back and forth. Bottom line is that you have to be convicted of a crime for which the penalty is greater than two years in order for you to lose your permit. Hale's crime carried a maximum 90 days in jail.
When McLean was convicted in 1983 of breaking and entering, the maximum penalty was six months. But state lawmakers upped the maximum to three years in the 1990s. McLean argued the new penalties should only apply to new permit holders; he had a permit for years before the state police took away his permit because of the old conviction.
This morning, a reader posed this question:
I was wondering how Anthony McLean received his permit in the first place. As you know, Maryland is very strict issuing permits. My Father is a retired FBI Agent and received a permit. His friend who also was a retired FBI agent, was denied. I can understand how Mr. Hale was issued a permit, but you didn’t address if Mr. Mclean had a legitimate need for one. I assume when you say permit, you mean a carry permit.A few minutes later I got an e-mail from McLean. Here is his side of the story in his own words:
Thank you for printing this story. I would like to give you more insight for your reporting pleasure if you so desire to continue with this story line .
This story is bigger than ME, and should be reported to the people of Maryland.
This case is much larger than it appears. This case is about protecting Maryland and other states back door attempts to disarm its citizens. I had a permit for 6 years, I have Class III weapons and other regulated weapons approved by the MSP and ATF over the last 25 years. Two months before the renewal of my permit was denied I was granted a Collectors License in Md. This allows one to purchase more than ONE regulated weapon at a time without the waiting period. Several weeks before my renewal I was permitted to purchase a handgun.
Now any regulated weapon I own makes me a criminal because the same guidelines that regulates permits, is also used for handguns, Class II & III weapons. By default If I cannot have a permit I cannot own regulated weapons. The brief by the appellate court ignored this important fact, but that was the biggest reason for my fighting this attack on our Constitutional rights.
Maryland re-codified B&E storehouse which in 1982 was the most minimal crime (misdemeanor) on the books in 1994 or 96. That is what I was charged with. I received 6 months suspended and probation. Maryland included in its new law more serious offensives and increase the minimum statutory incarceration time to 3 years. The bottom line here is all gun laws now in affect prevent one from possessing weapons if they were convicted of a crime that could have been punishable of 2 years or more in jail.
By doing this they back door every citizen in MD without anyone ever knowing it. Then I just happened to become a victim of this heinous and unjust act, and had the means to fight it.
This is a direct violation of my Constitutional rights regarding the Ex Post Facto laws. I never broke the new law created in 1994. My criminal record which is ONE line is a different law. This is the Ex Post Facto issue. However, the AG states it is not because of some twisted language, they choose to deceive and manipulate the populace. Again, “We The People” lose more of our rights without ever knowing. More people need to know this, many citizens in this state would be outraged to understand what has really happened here and since 1996.
Now I am potentially a criminal because I poses regulated weapons that I was allowed to purchase by MSP and ATF. That is totally wrong, and un-AMERICAN.
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system
Comments
Peter- thank you for providing Anthony with a medium
Anthony- thank you for fighting for our rights; keep it up
State of Maryland- you ought to know better
Posted by: Anonymous | March 2, 2011 12:29 PM
While I understand the argument put forth by the State, I think Mr. McLean has the better argument, and hope he is pursuing an appeal. At the very least, this would have a chilling effect on plea bargains. Plead guilty to a misdemeanor in exchange for a suspended sentence? not if you risk having it turned into a felony ex post facto.
Posted by: City Redux | March 3, 2011 10:54 AM