(November 1, 1999) Here's what most of the mainstream press ignored:

In open violation of state law, Takoma Park had planned to ask voters on November 2 whether "the city shall prohibit the sale, possession, and ownership of handguns within the city." This question resulted from local activists having collected enough signatures in support of a citizen initiative to legislate by changing the city charter.

This ban was encouraged by both city council members and state officials, who (contrary to spin that all this started as grassroots concern) have advised activists all along on how to proceed. Activists admit to receiving heavy funding for the project (with $5,000 for direct mail advertising alone the week before the election) and have substantial levels of legal work done for them pro bono. State Attorney General J. Joseph Curran has given them his blessing, even as anti-gun advocates conducted a campaign in apparent violation of state campaign finance reporting obligations too.

One major stumbling block in the implementation of this law should be state preemption: The Maryland legislature reserves unto itself the right to establish gun laws. But state preemption law also has a narrow exception, allowing some local control for purposes of safety within 100 yards of a school or place of public assembly. Advocates of the ban contended that by interpreting sidewalks to be "places of public assembly" they can enact the law city wide. The city placed two other advisory questions about handguns on the ballot, which if endorsed would require the city to agitate in Annapolis for both a state-wide handgun ban and removal of preemption.

Judging by comments on telecast city council meetings, Takoma Park is more interested in picking a fight with the "NRA and gun manufacturers" than in doing something for safety. Anti-gun extremists were disappointed to learn that the National Rifle Association declined to become involved in Takoma Park, and there was no word from the Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association. Indeed, in spite of posturing by representatives of MSRPA in the past, lack of community response to previous assaults on preemption apparently encouraged counsel for Takoma Park to believe they could get away with the current push. The gun-free zone and trigger lock laws of Montgomery County are on the books, unchallenged from enactment in 1997. They got away with it before, so why not again?

Under a city-wide ban, lawful firearm owners would have to choose between disarming or becoming a crminal. State Police have maintained records of all handguns purchased from a dealer for decades. But since October 1 of 1996 - the date Glendening's Gun Violence Act became law - private transfer of regulated firearms has been outlawed. A Takoma Park resident still in the MSP database after enactment of the city ban will exhibit prima fascia evidence he committed a crime: Either he still has a handgun in violation of the ban or he gave the gun up in an illegal secondary transfer. Either way he goes to jail. Police have a sworn duty to uphold this law, and all they have to do is ask the computer. (As we've reminded time and again: The only purpose for gun registration is gun confiscation.)

Speaking on behalf of organizers, Stacey Gurian-Sherman (already known to the Takoma Park community via her service as Chairwoman of the Piney Branch PTA Tolerance Advocacy Committee commenting on student gay and lesbian affairs) has defiantly claimed door to door confiscation is "not a Fourth Amendment issue."

There are many angles to this story, not the least of which is a constitutional matter of the highest order: Takoma Park, unlike any other locale in the charted universe, allows resident aliens to vote in its municipal elections. So ... non-citizens would cast their vote to remove an enumerated right from United States citizens living in Takoma Park.

Let's get to the good news. Our people living in Takoma Park went to court to stop this infringement, and won. A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge issued a temporary restraining order to prohibit Takoma Park from placing questions on the ballot, agreeing with our argument that they were unconstitutional. Plaintiffs argued that Maryland prohibits straw polls on the ballot: we live in a representative democracy, and so elect leaders to lead, not conduct opinion polls. And the judge - in fact, the man who in an earlier role wrote all the gun registration requirements now on the books in Washington DC - agreed.

We will still see the Takoma Park City Council agitate for gun control, but this ruling forces them to do so out in the open, of their own initiative, where they will take whatever political consequences we heap on them as a result. They won't be able to hide behind an illegal poll, claiming the decision is out of their hands based on the opinion survey.

We haven't won the war, but this victory forces our on-going fight back onto the correct battlefield. Kudos to Mike Cohen and Karen O'Neill, plaintiffs in this case, for their courageous stand taken on behalf of us all.