Why I don't live in Maryland anymore

In the state of Maryland, it is theoretically possible to obtain a handgun carry permit from the Maryland State Police, the issuing authority there. In practice, it is nearly impossible, as the State Police deny almost everyone who applies, in a clear abuse of their discretion. Law-abiding citizens who wish to protect themselves and their families don't have the option of arming themselves, while criminals merrily ignore the laws and carry guns anyway.

The state of Maryland also requires dealers who sell new handguns in the state to send a fired casing from that handgun to the State Police, who log it into a database that purports to match the markings on the case to markings on cases recovered from crime scenes, helping in theory to solve the crime. This has had dubious results, stemming mainly from the facts that:

1. Criminals steal or buy stolen weapons; they don't pop down to the local law-abiding dealer and submit the required Federal and State paperwork.

2. The individual components of a handgun that leave the "fingerprints" on fired casings are easily altered in a few moments; in fact, just regular use of the handgun will alter these markings over time. Even changing the barrel on a semiauto handgun takes moments and $10 to $20. Again, only criminals would do this on purpose, and their weapons aren't in the database anyway.

The Maryland database, which has cost the taxpayers there several million dollars, has yet to yield a single match for any firearm used in a crime, for the above reasons. In fact, not ONE conviction has been obtained to date in any state that uses such a database, in spite of all of this bureaucratic wheel-spinning.

I am detailing these things in order to set up how the following story should have the citizens of Maryland screaming to their lawmakers for changes in how they do things there.

Joseph Kopera, the longtime head of the Maryland State Police's firearms and ballistics units, has killed himself after it became known that he had lied on the stand about his credentials in numerous trials, and forged at least one document to attempt to cover his tracks once he was found out. Mr. Kopera had testified as an "expert" witness in thousands of criminal trials, each of which will probably have to be reopened as a result of his lies and misrepresentations.

Predictably, the "authorities" are downplaying the seriousness of Kopera's actions.

From the article:

""The question is, what did he claim to have degrees in, and what difference does that make to his qualifications? Obviously, he had taken classes and been sent to specific courses and learned this stuff over the years," said Harford County State's Attorney Joseph I. Cassilly."

and:

""Joe would never, ever cut corners to put someone in jail or just to sell the case," said the former city investigator, who, noting the sensitivity of the issue, spoke on the condition that he not be named. "I don't care what degrees he did or didn't have."

Gee, this is rich. The investigators don't care what degrees he had, as it wouldn't make a difference anyway? How do they know? The aren't the "expert", Mr. Kopera supposedly was. THIS MAN LIED CONSTANTLY ABOUT HIS VERY STANDING AS A FIREARMS EXPERT. Anything else he had to say has to be discounted for that very reason. If a criminal is found to have lied on the stand, the jury is instructed to weigh that against all of his other statements. The prosecutor's witnesses have to be held to the same standard, in order to assure a fair trial.

The same organization that denies permits to its law-abiding citizens is now making excuses for why its own employee broke the law in countless cases, and wants special consideration for him because he was "dedicated" and "worked hard". Not to mention the fact that even if there had been a single conviction using the non-working database, it probably would have to be thrown out, based on the testimony of Mr. Kopera.

The citizens of Maryland should be absolutely outraged by the cavalier attitude of their law-enforcement officials in this case, and they should petition the legislature to give them the same right to carry firearms as the police, who forbid the populace to protect themselves, while simultaneously thinking that they are above the law. They should additionally demand that the expensive, ineffective ballistic database be scrapped immediately

Waste, fraud, and abuse - the all too often hallmarks of today's government.

I wonder if Mr. Kopera had a carry permit?