If you are the first catch of the day (scheduled for 8:30 AM), you all show up about 30 minutes early, and sit around outside the court room. The court room finally opens at about 9AM, and everyone goes in (my group was about 30 people). There are some officers that show up as well, and they have their own special assigned seating. Then, you sit around and wait until the judge decides to show up – in our case, he walked in at 9:27AM.

He explains the rules and gets to work. The first cases he dealt with were those where the defendant had requested a trial (not a plea guilty hearing, which is an option they added last year). Names were called, and people came up. If no officer was present, the case was immediately dismissed and that person got to sit down. If the officer did show up, there was a quick statement by the officer (about 2 minutes) and a quick statement by the defendant. In the cases I saw today, even when the officer was present, the penalties were generally reduced. So, this seems like the way to go if you want to contest a ticket.

I had elected to do the other option, plead guilty and have a hearing. This puts you in the second batch of people, so once all the trials are done, these start. Almost all of these carried reduced or waived points, and almost always reduced fines. Yet, there was a $33 court fee, so if your fine wasn’t reduced enough, you could have paid more. Anyway, I managed to get mine reduced from $140 and 2 points to $100 and 0 points given my clean driving record and my explanation of the circumstances. So, $133 later, I was finished and I drove home.

Out of all the testimonies I saw today, even the really bad ones had their penalties reduced.

Tip 1: Make sure to pay your parking meter for at least 2 hours. The judge can apparently take his sweet time, and even though you show up at 8:30, you’re actually scheduled for 9:00. You could also arrive just before, but that might be bad planning. Parking at Montgomery County District Court is right across the street, and it’s cheap – like $0.75 an hour.

Tip 2: Don’t over-prepare. I made color copies, wrote a few pages of text, etc. This probably will not help you – I didn’t use any of this – my case was decided in less than 1 minute. I’m sure you can press the issue if you want, but at the risk of upsetting the judge by making him work longer. He has the power to increase your fine to up to $500 if he wants. Just go in there, say your piece, and be done.

Tip 3: You probably don’t need to dress up, but it might be a good idea. Don’t go in there looking like a slob, but if you just wear something nice, it seems like it doesn’t matter. I wore a full suit and tie, and I don’t think he was any more generous to me than to anyone else wearing sweat pants and a shirt.

Tip 4: Don’t be nervous. Generally, if your judge is lenient, you’ll get your penalties reduced. It’s not a formal affair – just go up there like you’re on Judge Judy and talk. If you want to know if your judge is cool, ask the police officers on the bench. They generally know who’s a hardass and who’s not. This can influence how you present your case.

Tip 5: Have cash. All fines are due right after your hearing is over, and they charge you extra for debit and credit cards. Luckily, I had $133 in my wallet.

Tip 6: You can leave as soon as they hand you a piece of paper. After you’re sentenced, you get a paper. Take it and go.

Tip 7: This is the most important thing: Make sure to request a trial rather than a guilty hearing. There is no reason why you shouldn’t unless you’re really afraid of seeing the officer(s) that ticketed you, and the only reason you’d be afraid of that is if you were going to lie. If the officer doesn’t show, you walk away scot-free. If he does, just plead guilty and it’s basically the same as the other option, except you get out faster because you go first.

All in all, it’s a thing to be avoided, but there’s almost no reason you shouldn’t go contest a ticket in Maryland.

This knife is a switchblade apparently...

Customs and Border Protection has moved to ban import of all knives with springs, or knives that can be opened with one hand. This is ridiculous, as these are no more dangerous than any other knife. All it will do is make these knives more expensive, and hurt knife manufacturers, which will destroy jobs (because jobs are all that matter these days, I had to work that in somehow). I’ve handled quite a few knives that have assisted opening, and I find them much easier to handle than knives that have no assist. Get ready to see new US knife sales hit an all time low as the better knives are traded underground. Just my 2 cents.

EAST Anglia’s largest independent retailer has announced it is withdrawing knives from sale in all its outlets with immediate effect.  The East of England Co-operative Society said it will withdraw knives from sale in its 135 supermarkets and food stores and five petrol forecourt shops.  It hopes the decision will reduce the risk of knives “falling into the wrong hands” in the communities its stores serve.

Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Provides that any person who owns a firearm in this State shall maintain a policy of liability insurance in the amount of at least $1,000,000 specifically covering any damages resulting from negligent or willful acts involving the use of such firearm while it is owned by such person. Provides that a person shall be deemed the owner of a firearm after the firearm is lost or stolen until such loss or theft is reported to the police department or sheriff of the jurisdiction in which the owner resides. Provides that the Department of State Police shall revoke and seize a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card previously issued under this Act if the Department finds that the person to whom such card was issued possesses or acquires a firearm and does not submit evidence to the Department of State Police that he or she has been issued in his or her name a liability insurance policy in the amount of at least $1,000,000 specifically covering any damages resulting from negligent or willful.

Kenneth Dunkin has proposed legislation that would force gun owners to pay a fee to exercise their natural rights.  If one applied the same proposition to any other right, there would be hell to pay.  This is a regressive tax that rewards the rich, who can afford to purchase the insurance, and makes the poor more vulnerable since they would have to forfeit their guns to save money.  Can you imagine if one had to buy insurance to exercise their freedom of expression?  What if you commit libel, or troll someone into suicide?  The really sad part is that Kenneth here wants your insurance to pay out if you use your gun in self-defense.

The full bill text is here.

(a) A PERSON SHALL NOT discharge any gun
within the metropolitan district, whether the gun is loaded with fixed or blank
ammunition or projectiles of any kind.

(D) A PERSON SHALL NOT, WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE PROPERTY
OWNER, DISCHARGE A GUN ON, FROM, ONTO, OR ACROSS ANY PUBLIC OR PRIVATE LAND.
[[(d)]] (E) This section shall not apply to:
(1) The discharge of guns at any target, trap or skeet range or shooting area
which has been inspected and received the written approval of the
department of inspections, licenses and permits pursuant to section 8.405,
“Authority To Inspect and Approve Ranges or Shooting Areas,” of this
subtitle; or to
(2) The discharge of guns by any person in a private basement or cellar target
range; or to
(3) The discharge of guns where necessary to protect life or [[property]]
PROPERTY, INCLUDING CROPS OR LIVESTOCK, or to kill any dangerous
threatening animal; or to
(4) Any duly authorized law enforcement officer acting in the proper
performance of his/her official duties; or to
(5) The discharge of blank ammunition in theatrical performances, historical
reenactments or sporting events; or to
(6) The firing of salutes by firing squads at military funerals; or to
(7) The discharge of guns by any person engaged in bona fide wildlife
research activities.

So, is a human being an animal? Well, technically, yes. But legally, probably not. Therefore, you could probably be guilty of a Class A offense under Title 24, Subtitle 1 if you ever use a gun in self-defense in Howard county, and there is no provision for concealed carry licenses, even though people have them here in Maryland. I wonder what the penalty is for that…

Sec. 24.107. Fines.
I. Amount of Fine: Unless another amount for a specific violation has been established by law or regulation, the civil fine shall be in the amount shown below:

So, if I value $500-$1000 less than my life, I should take the risk. Good to know.

• There are three incidents on the linked page in Australia, surprisingly, even though they have very strict handgun control. Even fake guns were involved…
• There was one in Toronto, also strict on handgun ownership
• Many states in the US are represented, including Maryland, Georgia, and Florida
• Quite a few are road rage incidents involving off-duty or retired police officers or Federal marshalls!!

There was a study that showed that “people who carry guns in their car are more likely to have road rage.” It’s a pretty far stretch since the percentages are 23% of people with guns vs. 16% of people without them. I don’t think this is a good conclusion. Until someone can show me that road rage deaths in Texas or Alaska or Florida increased when carry laws were loosened, I won’t believe these urban legends I keep hearing. And, if they’re not urban legends, please please cite your source – at least the publication.

I find the last one really shocking. Many of these people are trained very well in firearm use and safety. I would really like to be able to break it down by state using the Google archive search, but I can’t find that. If anyone knows where I can find statistics on police reports per state for road rage incidents involving handguns, especially time series data, let me know.