Hear Senator Tim Fergusen capitulate in his own words!

SOME DEFENDER OF FREEDOM!
Some "friend of gun owners" indeed.
Listen to Senator Tim Ferguson capitulate in his own words.

The year was 2000 and the fight was on Maryland Governor Parris Glendening's omnibus package of gun controls. Senator Tim Ferguson, elected on a platform of being a champion of the rights of individual firearm owners, assumed command of pro-gun defenses in the Senate, where gun owners had worked hard to elect enough Senators to enable a filibuster against the worst that gun prohibitionists could muster.

And what did Ferguson do? He independently approached leadership with a deal, offering that our forces would not filibuster in return for a minor amendment nobody but Ferguson wanted. Leadership took the deal, leaving Ferguson to sell it to pro-gun Senators who he didn't fully brief until after the damage was done.

Back in his home district of Frederick and Carroll Counties, Tim Ferguson continues to claim he is the gun movement's savior, but the facts speak otherwise.

He says he fought hard for us. Well ... YOU BE THE JUDGE. Click on the sound tracks below and listen for yourself. See if YOU think this sounds like a pro-gun champion "fighting hard" for you.

These clips are the direct recordings of Maryland Senate floor proceedings, from the session on March 24, 2000, provided to us as public information from the Maryland Department of Legislative Services. We provide the clips here in both WAV audio and RealAudio formats. (WAV files are very large and so may take a minute or more to download depending on how fast is your connection, but almost all browsers know how to play WAV files. RealAudio files are much smaller and faster to load, but they require a RealAudio player that you may or may not already have on your machine. You can get a free plug-in for most browsers from the company real.com.)

Track Description WAV RealAudio
1. Senator Ferguson is introduced and steps up to the microphone. Listeners wait for the spirited defense of liberty he promised in his campaigns. But what's this? He rises to give explanations for his support of amendments!
2. And what's the key reason for working hand-in-glove with proponents of this bill? Yes, you'll hear it right: "In a perfect world we wish there was no such thing as guns." Some defense of gun owners!
3. Ferguson goes on to pay homage to the champions of this gun control package, then represents that the bill as comes forth is something the National Rifle Association can "live with" (as if the NRA has branded its approval on the "compromise" package.)
4. Ferguson proceeds to represent that all sides reached a "compromise" on the gun control package. (This clip directly contradicts his later written claims to constituents that he did not compromise.)
5. As if the shocks to pro-gunners weren't enough already, Ferguson explains his so-called "compromise". What he got in return for capitulation is two new engineering members on the Handgun Roster Board (which decides which handguns may be sold in Maryland.) And why add two more engineers to the board? All the better to ban more guns based on the new lock mandate he is helping enact!
6. Say that again? Ferguson wants pro-gun Senators thinking this bill is somehow about consumer protection?
7. Yup! Ferguson wants the state's Handgun Roster Board positioned to ban more handguns, under the guise of "protecting gun owners." Check this one out: it is a virtual quote of statements anti-gunners made to justify their "Saturday Night Special" ban back in 1988! Tim Ferguson just endorsed the Handgun Ban!
8. As long as we're reviewing Ferguson's two-faced handling of constituents, please take note. In August of 2002 he wrote a letter to the editor of the Frederick News Post, claiming he made no deal with leadership on the gun bill. Oops! Listen to him speak matter of factly on the Senate floor about having "agreed" to limit debate (translation: no filibuster.) (Other Senators in the whole tape talk explicitly about the deal, but here it is from Ferguson's own lips.)

As we said, SOME DEFENDER OF FREEDOM THIS FERGUSON IS! And what you heard above is just the tip of the iceberg -- Ferguson rhetoric and record are similarly at odds on his handling of Right to Carry legislation and a string of related conservative measures on other issues. No wonder all gun groups in the know have shunned Ferguson and endorsed the strongly pro-gun David Brinkley for Senate this fall. YOU SHOULD TOO!

Track	Description	WAV	RealAudio
1.	Senator Ferguson is introduced and steps up to the microphone. Listeners wait for the spirited defense of liberty he promised in his campaigns. But what's this? He rises to give explanations for his support of amendments!
2.	And what's the key reason for working hand-in-glove with proponents of this bill? Yes, you'll hear it right: "In a perfect world we wish there was no such thing as guns." Some defense of gun owners!
3.	Ferguson goes on to pay homage to the champions of this gun control package, then represents that the bill as comes forth is something the National Rifle Association can "live with" (as if the NRA has branded its approval on the "compromise" package.)
4.	Ferguson proceeds to represent that all sides reached a "compromise" on the gun control package. (This clip directly contradicts his later written claims to constituents that he did not compromise.)
5.	As if the shocks to pro-gunners weren't enough already, Ferguson explains his so-called "compromise". What he got in return for capitulation is two new engineering members on the Handgun Roster Board (which decides which handguns may be sold in Maryland.) And why add two more engineers to the board? All the better to ban more guns based on the new lock mandate he is helping enact!
6.	Say that again? Ferguson wants pro-gun Senators thinking this bill is somehow about consumer protection?
7.	Yup! Ferguson wants the state's Handgun Roster Board positioned to ban more handguns, under the guise of "protecting gun owners." Check this one out: it is a virtual quote of statements anti-gunners made to justify their "Saturday Night Special" ban back in 1988! Tim Ferguson just endorsed the Handgun Ban!
8.	As long as we're reviewing Ferguson's two-faced handling of constituents, please take note. In August of 2002 he wrote a letter to the editor of the Frederick News Post, claiming he made no deal with leadership on the gun bill. Oops! Listen to him speak matter of factly on the Senate floor about having "agreed" to limit debate (translation: no filibuster.) (Other Senators in the whole tape talk explicitly about the deal, but here it is from Ferguson's own lips.)