(June 2003) MAHA, or Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse, is now CeaseFire. Don't be fooled. They changed their name but not their stripes. These same gun grabbers have worked for years to deny citizens our constitutional rights.

"Poppa Joe" Curran, Maryland's present Attorney General, helped launch the group in the early 80's in order to ensure a 'citizen' front group would publicly support his efforts to end private ownership of handguns. The group later linked with Sarah Brady in order to serve as her organization's state arm. The earliest group name proclaimed they opposed only so-called 'Saturday Night Specials,' then this was changed to MAHA to recognize they are against all handguns. The latest name change recognizes they oppose all firearms, not just handguns, and boasts of their continued close ties with the state's official Cease Fire Council.

The Cease Fire Council is an official governmental body directly under the Governor's office, having both a line in the budget and a mission to pioneer new ways to diminish private ownership of firearms. Your tax dollars fully fund its initiatives. While the Council has no official link to Curran's front group, its appointed members are in great part the same cast of characters, hand-picked by former Governor Parris Glendening and now given free rein by a new administration that fears tinkering with ridiculous gun control laws on behalf of a core constituency.

Now that the name Cease Fire can interchangeably refer to either the public or private organization, gun grabbers like Ginni Wolf, tied to both groups, are free to issue anti-gun messages that sound to the public like authoritative government positions adopted in the name of public safety. Curran's people just put their thumb in Bob Ehrlich's eye, knowing his administration is so desperate not to touch gun issues that he likely won't respond.