Burglars Break In Rural Counties Break Out

District Heights residents, one is a DC Police Officer, have home burglarized. Thieves broke in through foreclosed home next door.  Rural Maryland Counties standing up against Gov. O’Malley’s Maryland’s Firearm Safety Act of 2013.

WJLA reported, “Jessica Culver and her partner Latonya Elliott thought they were locked up tight, alarm turned on. But they hadn’t counted on criminals busting through their bedroom wall from the neighboring townhouse that’s been mostly vacant and in foreclosure. ‘I’m extremely upset,’ Elliott says.’The bank knew people were in and out. And they didn’t take time to secure the home.’ Elliott  And Elliott knows something about security. She’s a D.C. police officer.

Thousands of dollars worth of electronics and jewelry were stolen. Priceless videos and photos. Even Culver’s daughter’s piggy bank. “I don’t feel secure at all,” Culver says. “When someone doesn’t come through door or window, what do you do?”After ABC7 called the Prince George’s County Dept. of Environmental Resources, a code inspector arrived within two hours.  The inspector said the wall was up to code and it would stop a fire, but declined to speak about whether it would stop someone from breaking into the home next door. The inspector was surprised he doesn’t see this more often. But Officer Elliott’s never seen a crime scene quite like this.  “You never want to think you could be a victim,” Elliott says. The burglars left behind lots of fingerprints. And the biggest TV, which apparently wouldn’t fit through the hole.

Attorney General Gansler is laying down the law to Cecil, Garrett, and Carroll County, where some officials are saying that they will not adopt all of the new gun control law.  From WTOP, “Maryland’s Firearm Safety Act of 2013, was passed and signed this year after being championed by Governor Martin O’Malley.  Among other things, the law bans more than 45 different kinds of weapons, puts a 10-bullet limit on magazines and requires new handgun purchasers to be licensed and fingerprinted during a rigorous background check.

Lawmakers in both Carroll and Cecil counties have, in recent weeks, adopted resolutions refusing to utilize county resources to enforce provisions in the gun control package.  Cecil officials went so far as to label their jurisdiction a “second amendment sanctuary.”  Garrett County Sheriff Robert Corley also promised this week to enforce provisions only in certain instances. He told county commissioners the law, as it was passed, is unconstitutional.  But their defiance may amount solely to grandstanding, according to the state.  “They may not like what it says ,but it’s clearly the law of the state,” says Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler.

“They’re not lawyers. They’re not the court and they’re certainly not the Supreme Court,” Gansler says. Gansler added that local sheriffs swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Maryland when they took the oath of office.  Major groups opposing the gun control measure are resolute to challenge the law in the courts after it takes effect in October.  A drive to force a referendum on the issue failed last week.