In his State of the State speech on January 19, 2000, Maryland Governor Parris Glendening openly shared his fantasy vision of the future:

“Four years ago, we came together and stood up to the gun lobby to make our families safer and our neighborhoods more secure. Together, we passed one of the nation's strongest anti-gun violence laws. And gun-related crime has dropped dramatically as a result. We can take this success further and do even more to protect our families and children. We can tell the NRA and the gun manufacturers that Maryland is setting the agenda now. We can tell them that we are putting our children's lives ahead of their profits. We can stand together and say: ‘It is time to stop killing our children!’ … I can only share my hopes for the world our children will inherit from us. I hope the children of Maryland one day will think of handguns and cigarettes as relics of a past, unenlightened age.”

All legislation proposed by the governor this year can only be viewed in the context of his ultimate goal: a ban of private ownership of handguns. There can be no compromise with this man on any issue.