Pro-Gun Legislator Needs Our Help

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Pro-Gun Legislator Needs Our Help

Posted: 8/1/2006 5:13:02 PM EDT

Folks, this guy has put his neck on the line for us and he is getting a raw deal form both Purtilo and the NRA. If we lose him in the House, it means that District 31 has lost both a staunch supporter in the House of Delegates as well as the Senate (Jimeno, a long time friend of ours retired this year).

From Delegate Don Dwyer. If you live in or near AA County, please consider donating some time.

-----------------------------

Dear Friend of the Gun Community,

It is unfortunate, but there are some in the gun community (Jim Purtilo of TripWire) who are working to bring me down. By that I mean that he and his organization are working hard to cause me to lose my seat in the House of Delegates.

For years he has fought with and attacked Del. Amedori, Del Smiegel and me over gun legislation. He has gone so far as to file a FOIA lawsuit against me and to have me served with a summons while I was standing in the rotunda of the State House and smiled at me while doing so. (In the end, the court ruled against Purtilo).

Now Mr. Purtilo and Marylanders For the Preservation of Firearms have launched an all out assault on me by mailing the two attached post cards in my legislative district. (AACO 31). In the last mailing, they indicate that there is more to come. So he won’t be letting up any time soon.

(NOTE by Norton - I'll try to post the attachments)

Likewise, I am on very shaky ground with the NRA. During the 2002 election cycle, I campaigned loudly on the Right to Carry and the Second Amendment in general. My signs and printed materials even spelled out my views, but in the end, the NRA could not find its way clear to endorse me. I won anyhow! Since being elected, I have championed the rights of gun owners and law-abiding citizens.

Over the past several years, I have sponsored Maryland’s Right to Carry legislation against the will of Mr. Purtilo and the NRA. That’s right. On multiple occasions, Mr. Purtilo and Jen Palmer of the NRA have come to me and requested that I withdraw my RTC legislation. Every time I refuse reminding them that I campaigned on gun issues.

After becoming very frustrated and confused about the position of the NRA, I contacted NRA headquarters in April by letter and requested that they give me their position on Maryland’s RTC legislation. They indicated in writing that because of the makeup of the current Maryland legislature, it could be detrimental to put the RTC bill on the floor and for that reason; they DO NOT Support the RTC in Maryland at this time. Is it any surprise that the NRA does not support my campaign financially?

DEL. DWYER NEEDS YOUR HELP

With all of this said, I need your help! I have a great reputation for the most part throughout my district. However, Mr. Purtilo’s last mailer caused some to question my commitment to public service. I need your help to offset their doubt.

Here is how you can help.

First of all, forward this e-mail to every gun supporter you know as well as every conservative who knows of my commitment to conservative values.
Join me and hopefully many supporters, as we blanket my district with hand delivered post cards and campaign brochures. We will do this on Saturday Sept. 9th beginning at 9am and running until 4pm. Then we will gather at a local park for a cookout and fellowship.
If you are available- join us on Tuesday Sept 12th to work the polls wearing my t-shirts and handing out my material.
If you live in AACO consider joining my sign waving efforts.

If you are able to help, I really need it. Please consider helping me. I have supported the gun communities agenda even against the desires of Mr. Purtilo and the NRA.

Constitutionally yours,

Delegate Don Dwyer, Jr.

410-419-3870

p.s. Please let me know ASAP if you will help us.

Posted: 8/1/2006 5:40:12 PM EDT

[#1]

would love to help out on this one, I will let my freinds knwo in the AA area since i live in P.G. County.

I am looking for ways that i can contrube into this with money wise only, since i am a full time empoyee with a havoc schedule for the university football team that I'm coaching.

will be keeping an eye out on this

Posted: 8/2/2006 1:32:37 AM EDT

[#2]

I am looking for ways that i can contrube into this with money wise only

Just go on over to his website and cut him a check. Don't worry about how much.....even at my, ahem, more advanced age I can't spare for than $25-35 for most contributions because I send stuff to several people. I may try to cough up more than that for Don because I really want to see him re-elected.

Posted: 8/2/2006 7:51:43 AM EDT

[#3]

www.delegatedwyer.com/

+1 for a good guy.

Also consider www.johngiannetti.com/ - he's a Dem and not perfect on gun control, but he's taking heat from the Brady's for being the blocking vote against the AWB a few years ago. It's entirely possible he is the reason you can still buy an AR in this state.

Posted: 8/2/2006 1:03:07 PM EDT

[#4]

am i reading this correctly that the guys at Tripwire are going against him???

i thought the were here to protect our gun rights and i thought they were fighting for ccw to be shall issue.

please clear this up for me.

Posted: 8/2/2006 4:48:11 PM EDT

[#5]

am i reading this correctly that the guys at Tripwire are going against him???

First off you have to remember that there is no "the guys" when it comes to Tripwire. Tripwire, as an entity, is solely the purvey of Jim Purtillo, the self annointed spokesman of gun rights for Maryland.

Jim's basic M.O. is to slander anyone who does not follow his directions or fails to ask his permission to submit legislation. He did it to Carmen Amedori, he did it to Bob Ehrlich and now he is doing it to Don Dwyer. Don's crime? Introducing CCW legislation in the House this year against Jim Purtillo's wishes.

Posted: 8/2/2006 5:03:47 PM EDT

[#6]

Here is a far better analysis of the history of the Tripwire situation than I could hope to ever compose. Dr. Phil Lee is one of the most astute minds on RKBA issues that I've met in this state. His research and memory of the historical fight for our rights in MD may be one of the best tools that we have.

I've tried to maintain any links or formatting that were in the email I received from him. The only changes I made were some spots where the spacing between words were missing.

Are Jim Purtilo/MPFO on the side of Gunnies?

Or do they have a side of their own?

Jim Purtilo/MPFO have mailed a secondpostcard (both sides shown below) to voters in Del. Don Dwyer'sdistrict to attack him. Previously, Jim Purtilo asserted (June2006 Tripwire) that Del. Dwyer scuttling his effort to obtain a repealof ballistic fingerprinting during the 2005 Maryland legislativesession. As we show below, this claim is false and Del. Dwyer isone of the strongest pro-RKBA supporter in the legislature. Infact, Jim Purtilo's own words written shortly after the end of the 2005legislative session gives the lie to his June 2006 claim. Considering that Jim Purtilo/MPFO are supposed (by supporters) to bepro-RKBA and claim to use money collected from gun owners for apro-RKBA purpose, this attack is a betrayal of gun ownerinterests. It is also a violation of Jim Purtilo's own announced voter policy (see District 33) "All legislators must know that if they do right for our issue then they can count on us not to unseat them."

MPFO (Marylanders for the Preservation of Firearm Ownership)is a political action committee (PAC) established to support theelection of pro-RKBA candidates to the legislature. MPFOprimarily raises money by holding raffles of guns and they distributemoney to support political candidates. Historically, they tend todistribute 50 cents on the dollar collected, approximately, tocandidates. MPFO is closely tied to Tripwire, a Jim Purtilonewsletter, as advertising in the Tripwire newsletter and on JimPurtilo's "myguns.net" web site of their raffles will confirm.

Jim Purtilo claims that Del. Dwyerscuttling his ballistic fingerprinting repeal efforts in the 2005legislative session (June 2006 Tripwire), but right after thelegislature adjourned he was praising Del. Dwyer for his "efforts onour behalf" (see his April 12, 2005 action alert). In that praise Jim Purtilo says:

Please take a moment to let some pro-gun Senators and Delegates know how much we appreciate their efforts on our behalf. This will only take a fewmoments of your time in the next few days, and not only is it appropriatefor us to do, it will continue to telegraph our active involvement in thepolitical process to those who need to know we'll be there for them nextelection. (All extensions listed below can be dialed toll free at either410 841 xxxx or 301 858 xxxx.)

Senator David Brinkley 3704
Senator Alex Mooney 3575
Senator Philip Jimeno 3658
Senator Norman Stone 3587
Senator Nancy Jacobs 3158
Senator Roy Dyson 3673
Senator Kathy Klausmeier 3620
Senator E. J. Pipkin 3639
Senator Richard Colburn 3590
Senator Janet Greenip 3568

Delegate Warren Miller 3556
Delegate Gail Bates 3556
Delegate Joseph Boteler 3365
Delegate Charles Boutin 3289
Delegate Mary Conroy 3098
Delegate Donald H. Dwyer 3047 [emphasis added]
Delegate Tony Fulton 3030
Delegate Rick Impallaria 3334
Delegate Kevin Kelly 3404
Delegate Susan Krebs 3200
Delegate Pat McDonough 3334
Delegate Robert McKee 3447
Delegate LeRoy Myers 3435
Delegate Tony O'Donnell 3314
Delegate Joanne Parrott 3289
Delegate Michael Weir 3328

Your message can be very simple: "The Tripwire Newsletter reports yourservice to the firearm community during session. I'm just calling to saythank you to the Delegate/Senator." (Note, surely there are others in thelegislature worthy of our thanks too, but the above list identifies thosewho sponsored bills we liked or who fought for us in specific ways.)

Even more important is that Del. Dwyer has been in the vanguard of efforts to accomplish what Jim Purtilo claimed was "our top and achievable goal for the session"(see his remarks about the 2005 bill SB 424). Even before JimPurtilo was promoting ballistic fingerprinting repeal in 2005, Del.Tony O'Donnell offered a floor amendment to remove funding forballistic fingerprinting from the budget bill in March 2004. Theamendment was defeated 47-90, but Del. Dwyer voted for defunding theprogram. The record of that vote can be found at:
mlis.state.md.us/2004rs/votes/house/0531.htm
So, Del. Dwyer supported steps to get rid of ballistic fingerprinting a full yearbefore Jim Purtilo took it up as his priority goal.

A full repeal of ballistic fingerprinting was attempted also in 2004 with crossfiled bills offered in the Maryland House and Senate. One of the Housesponsors of the 2004 ballistic fingerprint repeal bill (HB251) was alsoone our strongest friends, Del. Carmen Amedori. Jim Purtilo haddistressed the RKBA community with attacks on Del. Amedori in2003. Quoting from a message from Giff Nickol dated May 11, 2003responding to Jim Purtilo's attack on Del. Amedori, "Just a week ortwo ago, I got the latest issue of the Tripwire, wherein Jim Purtillo,whom I like and respect, attacked the Ehrlich administration andDelegate Carmen Amedori in particular, one of our staunchest allies,for a perceived lack of support for us during this past legislativesession. This despite the fact that Carmen and other pro-gunpoliticians met with a number of gun rights people and pointed out tothem that with the budget, slots, and all the other issues facing thenew administration, gun rights could not be on the agenda thissession. No new gun legislation would be approved, but therewould be no push this session to reverse some of the bad legislationenacted during the Glendening years either. What is so difficultto understandabout that?" Nor did Jim Purtilo take thesecomments from Giff Nickol and similar comments from others to heart --rather he continued to attack Gov. Ehrlich and Del. Amedori throughout2003 (see his posting in December).

By the time Jim Purtilo declared ballistic fingerprinting repeal his top goal in 2005, only the MarylandSenate offered a suitable bill for him to endorse and prior-year Housesponsors had lost interest. When Jim-come-lately Purtilo wasready to endorse ballistic fingerprinting repeal in 2005, he'd alreadyalienated many pro-RKBA House members with his attacks on friends in2003 and 2004. But, of course, he can't blame their lack ofsupport on his bad behavior, he has to blame some one else. Currently, Jim Purtilo's "blamee de jour" is Del. Don Dwyer.

Jim Purtilo has quite the record ofworking with pro-RKBA legislators and then turning on them -- formerDel. Joe Getty, a good friend to gun owners, made that point in theOct. 3, 2003 Gazette article "Under fire, governor drops Exile,"by Thomas Dennison. In making those attacks, Jim Purtilo haspractically never documented his assertions; instead he has adopted thehallmark approach of making unsupported allegations, a techniqueperfected by our gun-grabber opponents who lie about everything.

Just like his previous attacks, JimPurtilo hasn't bothered to explain his real reasons for hisattack. This attack fits a pattern of Jim Purtilo's recentbehavior in striking out at pro-RKBA Republican government officialsuch as Del. Carmen Amedori and Gov. Robert Ehrlich and at otherpro-RKBA activists (see Jim Purtilo's web site attacking Steve Dirlik and Henry Heymering.

It appears that it isn't enought to sponsor bills Jim Purtilo likes or to fight for us in specific ways or to support his top priority of ballistic fingerprinting repeal to gain his loyalty. So, what does it take?

To answer that question, we turn to Jim Purtilo's still posted "VOTER GUIDE 2002". In his guide he endorses re-election of John Arnick and Sonny Minnickfor district 6 and endorses the election of newcomer Democrat EricBromwell for district 8. On April 3, 2000, as a last-ditch effortto defeat Glendening's "Responsible Gun Safety Act of 2000"(SB211) House members offered a series of amendments designed to attactgun grabber votes. The intent was to change the bill in the Housewhich would have forced the bill to be reconsidered in the Senatewhere, it was hoped, that stalling tactics would allow the clock to berun out before the bill passed. Some legislators voted againstthe bill but voted against some of the amendments and in patterns todefeat the amendments while disguising their support for thebill. Both Delegates Arnick and Minick voted against amendmentsdesigned to defeat SB211. It was SB211 that produced a ban onsales in Maryland of new handguns, gave us ballistic fingerprinting andother anti-gun provisions that are hurting us today (the roles playedby both Delegates Arnick and Minick in this amendment fight aredescribed here)

Those two delegates aren't the onlyexamples of people who voted the wrong way on the amendments and whosubsequently received a favorable nod in Jim Purtilo's "VOTER GUIDE 2002". In that guide Purtilo endorsed Delegates Bohanan, Cane and Sophocleuseven though they voted against us on some amendments to the"Responsible Gun Safety Act of 2000". Jim Purtilo even goes sofar as to deceive his readers about Del. Sophocleus' actions by saying "Ted Sophocleus ... did vote with us on the Gun Violence Act in 2000." Del. Sophocleus acted to help Glendening's gun grab become law and Jim Purtilo knows it.

Why would Pro-RKBA Jim Purtilo supportDelegates Arnick, Minick, Bohanan, Cane and Sophocleus for re-electionin 2002 after they helped Glendening pass his prime anti-gun package in2000? It seems that Purtilo is willing to overlook anti-RKBAvotes of members of the Democratic Party. The legislators he attacksare all Republicans . . . a pattern of behavior for Jim Purtilo.

Let's not forget Democrat DelegateBromwell who Jim Purtilo endorsed in his "VOTER GUIDE 2002". In 2004,Mr. Bromwell joined other members of the Democratic party in voting to keep Ballistic Fingerprinting in the budget. You have to wonder why Jim Purtilo isn't going after Democrat Del. Bromwell forsupporting the continuation of ballistic fingerprinting instead ofRepublican Del. Dwyer who voted to eliminate its funding.

There is a pattern of behavior in thatJim Purtilo has covered for some anti-gun votes by legislator (so longas they are Democrats) while attacking pro-RKBA legislators (so long asthey are Republicans) for behavior that is visible only to him and notpublicly documented. It is time to recognize this behavior as notbenefiting Maryland gun owners. It is also time to realize thatJim Purtilo is not acting in the interest of Maryland RKBA and notacting for Maryland gun owners, but for his own interests and the wayhe is acting brings discredit on himself.

Those of you who would be silent onthis, who believe that Jim Purtilo's actions are better ignored topreserve the appearance of unity by gunnies, are allowing his foolishattacks on our friends to succeed by your inaction. In silence,you are showing those who would be our friends that they cannot dependon you to defend them when they are falsely attacked by someoneclaiming to speak for your interest. It isn't just Delegate Dwyerwho is being attacked here -- just like it wasn't Delegate Amedori whowas being attacked in 2003. All of us supporting freedom arebeing attacked. While we aren't responsible for the attacks, oursilence to the attacks and our failure to support our friends discredits us.

Philip F. Lee
MCRKBA
Maryland Alert
July 30, 2006

Posted: 8/2/2006 5:28:19 PM EDT

[#7]

I gave Don a check for $50 at MSI's trap shoot a few weeks ago and I'm helping with his campaign on the 9th and the 12th.

It's sad the MPFO is wasting gun owners' money trying to destroy a solid pro gun vote in the house. Even sadder is that many will continue to blindly give money to MPFO (Does that now stand for "Marylanders to PREVENT Firearm Ownership"?) without ever knowing how it's being used against them.

Pat Corcoran is another great candidate for the house in D-31.

Posted: 8/2/2006 5:52:48 PM EDT

[#8]

thanks for clearing this up.

i will have to make some changes to where my money goes.

Posted: 8/3/2006 12:42:18 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
thanks for clearing this up.

i will have to make some changes to where my money goes.

Glad that I could help. I used to also send Jim a fair amount of money. As I got more involved in things I began to see that Jim was more interested in being the center of attention than he was in getting things done and pulled my support for both Tripwire and MPFO (those are the folks that sponsor the raffles at the gun shows).

Posted: 8/3/2006 1:21:11 PM EDT

[#10]

Yes, the above is very helpful information. I was having a great deal of difficulty understanding why pro-gun people are attacking each other. At least now I understand a little more.

Posted: 8/3/2006 4:49:17 PM EDT

[#11]

Norton,
I cut and pasted the thing onto the SCSC club board. Hopefully I won't get flamed, I think Purtilo's a member.

Posted: 8/3/2006 5:14:49 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Norton,
I cut and pasted the thing onto the SCSC club board. Hopefully I won't get flamed, I think Purtilo's a member.

If he is, then I would anxiously await a reply from him. I tried for some time, much like the gentleman cited by Phil, to get to the bottom of Jim's irrational behavior by asking why he was attacking people that I saw testifying in Annapolis for good bills and against bad bills. His response was to ask me questions.....

Posted: 8/3/2006 6:05:31 PM EDT

[#13]

Jim is also responsible for this:
www.squirreltalk.net/

Posted: 8/3/2006 7:17:32 PM EDT

[#14]

I find it odd that Mr. Purtilo has contributed much more towards the demise of pro gun legislators than to eradicating anti gun legislators. I will rescind this notion if anybody can prove otherwise.....show me where Purtilo has sent negative postcards to the legislative districts of say....Senators Frosh, Green or Garagiola. Or maybe Delegate Quinter, lead sponsor of the the House AWB bill for the last three years.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Pro-Gun Legislator Needs Our Help

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