Don't travel to this state if you have a concealed carry permit; You may be targeted by the police.

One rule of gun ownership is to be sure you know the laws in other states you may be travelling to or through if you want to bring your firearm.  Unfortunately for travelers in Maryland, it seems  even if you obey their draconian gun laws, the cops may pull you over simply because they think you may have one.  And they may not believe you when you tell them you left it at home.

A report has come out that seems to point some interesting fingers at Maryland cops pulling over out-of-state vehicles of those with concealed carry permits.  A reporter from The Washington Times wrote a story about a man who was indeed pulled over and his family and he harassed by police as his vehicle was searched for his firearm he told them was back home.  The reporter started hearing from other concealed carry holders who had the same experiences.

From The Washington Times:

A year ago this New Year’s Eve, John Filippidis of Florida was driving south with his family on Interstate 95 when the Maryland Transportation Authority Police pulled over his black Ford Expedition and proceeded to raid it while his twins, wife and daughter looked on — separated in the back seats of different police cruisers.

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The officers were searching for Mr. Filippidis‘ Florida-licensed, palm-size Kel-Tec .38 semi-automatic handgun, which he left at home locked in his safe. (Maryland does not recognize handgun permits issued by other states.)

The incident gained national attention. Mr. Filippidis went on multiple radio programs and described in detail how scared and outraged he and his family were. He wondered: How did the police know he was licensed for concealed carry, and what right did they have to search through his personal items on the side of the busy interstate filled with holiday travelers on that 10-degree day?

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Mr. Filippidis‘ case earned the support of Second Amendment advocates and subsequent apologies from the MDTA. But an internal police review concluded his stop and search were lawful and did not violate police protocols.

Those findings, however, have not satisfied other out-of-state gun owners, who worry that they, too, have been targeted for minor traffic stops in Maryland because they have concealed weapons permits. Their stories are accumulating.

Watch the report here:

Maryland’s gun laws are some of the most strict in the country.  The laws in Maryland are so bad that 21 other states are taking legal action against them.

From the Baltimore Sun:

Led by West Virginia’s attorney general, 21 states have joined a legal effort seeking to overturn Maryland’s tough new gun control law.

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The Maryland statute has no effect on gun laws in their states, but the attorneys general argue in an amicus brief filed this month that Maryland’s law was written too broadly and violates the Second Amendment rights of their citizens.

“States must band together in times when they see citizens’ rights being diminished or infringed upon,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in statement released when he filed the brief. “If the courts decide this law passes muster, it would undermine a core part of the Second Amendment.”

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Morrisey, who declined to be interviewed, said Maryland’s ban on the sale of military-style weapons is akin to “trying to impose a content-based ban on speech. It simply cannot be done.”

A federal court ruled that Maryland’s ban on 45 types of semiautomatic rifles is constitutional. The coalition of gun owners and gun-rights groups that challenged the law is appealing the decision by the U.S. District Court of Maryland. The attorneys general have joined that effort.

Maryland has not yet filed its response, due by the end of the year.

Maryland’s gun law, proposed by Gov. Martin O’Malley and passed by the General Assembly in 2013, was among the most stringent enacted after the massacre of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. It is one of three, all passed after Newtown, that gun-rights activists are fighting in federal courts.

Judge Catherine C. Blake upheld Maryland’s ban in August, rejecting the argument that military-style weapons are in common use for self-defense and therefore protected by the Second Amendment. Blake wrote that she considered the ban a legitimate way to improve public safety.

This is the problem with gun control laws, they turn law-abiding citizens into criminals.  Meanwhile the real criminals are out there committing crimes with illegal firearms they obtained.  Gun control does nothing to stop criminals and everything to hurt those who obey the law.  You shouldn’t have to leave your basic right to self-defense at home just because you cross state lines.