Delegate Carmen Amedori of Carroll
County, Maryland is the recipient of
the CCRKBA Gun Rights Defender of
the Month Award for April.
In nominating Delegate Amedori for
the Award, John Michael Snyder,
CCRKBA Public Affairs Director, noted
that, “these days, law-abiding firearms
owners in the State of Maryland face
as serious attacks on their right to keep
and bear arms, if not the most serious
such attacks, as do law-abiding gun
owners in any state in the nation.
“In the face of these attacks, coming
from anti-gun Gov. Parris N. Glendening,
as well as from anti-gun Attorney
General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. and
other anti-gun public officials, several
stalwart defenders of the individual
civil right of law-abiding citizens to
keep and bear arms have arisen in the
General Assembly to do legislative
battle with the gun grabbers.
“One of these is Carmen Amedori,
who represents Carroll County in the
House of Delegates. She is opposing
Glendening, Curran and the others
with outspoken and articulate commitment,
determination and fortitude
against what must seem at times like
overwhelming odds in an effort to
protect the civil rights of Marylanders.
She certainly is most deserving of this
Award.â€
Delegate Amedori recently introduced,
with over 35 cosponsors,
House Bill 597, the proposed Self-
Defense Act of 2000. This would mandate
that the Secretary of the State Police
issue a permit to carry a handgun
within a reasonable time to an applicant
who is at least 18 years of age,
who does not fall into any of certain
prohibited categories, and who has
demonstrated competence with a
handgun by any one of a number of
listed methods.
Under current Maryland statutes,
law-abiding Marylanders supposedly
have the right to carry concealed
handguns. However, the law is so
written and so interpreted by issuing
authorities that, for all practical purposes,
people generally are not able
to exercise the right.
Ms. Amedori’s proposal would
rectify the current situation so that
law-abiding citizens in Maryland
would, in fact and not just in theory,
have the right to carry concealed
handguns. Maryland thus would
join the growing number of states
that authorize the carrying of concealed
firearms by law-abiding citizens.
“We really think House Bill 597, if
enacted into law, would improve
vastly the ability of law-abiding citizens
to combat violent criminals in
the so-called Free State,†said Snyder.
Delegate Amedori pointed out that
the proposed Self-Defense Act of
2000 would alter the requirements
and procedures for application for,
and issuance of, a handgun permit;
authorize the holder of a permit to
carry a handgun for self-defense;
eliminate the requirement that the
holder have a good and substantial
reason to carry a handgun; specify
that the holder may conceal the
handgun in a certain manner; alter
and eliminate certain fees; require
certain information on a certain application
form; establish procedures
for renewal or replacement of a permit;
eliminate modified and limited
handgun permits; require permanent
expiration of a permit that has
not been renewed within a certain
time after its expiration; authorize
the State Police to suspend processing
an application if the applicant is
arrested for a crime that would render
the applicant ineligible to receive
a permit; enumerate places where a
permit holder may not wear, carry,
or transport a handgun; authorize
the holder of a similar permit from
another state to wear, carry or transport
a handgun in Maryland; require
the State Police to maintain an accessible
listing of permit holders accessible
to law enforcement agencies only; provide
certain immunity to the State Police
from liability for unlawful acts
committed by the permit holder under
certain circumstances; establish that
possession of a permit constitutes sufficient
evidence of a background check
under certain federal law; establish
certain penalties; prohibit the State
Police from regulating or restricting
the issuance of a permit except as provided
in the Self-Defense Act; and apply
the Act to the reissuance of a permit
issued before the effective date of
the Act.
House Bill 597 has been referred to
the Judiciary Committee of the House
of Delegates.
Carmen was born in Baltimore,
Maryland. She is a graduate of Villa
Julie College and attended the Weekend
College of Notre Dame. In 1977-
85, and again in 1993-98, she worked
as a paralegal in family, criminal and
real estate law. In 1985-88, she was a
journalist with the Baltimore SUN,
and in 1988-90, with THE CARROLL
COUNTY TIMES. A former freelance
writer, consultant and legal transcriptionist,
she has been a volunteer with
the Historical Society of Carroll
County, writing biographies of Carroll
County Vietnam veterans, 1994-97,
and campaign manager for Jerry F.
Barnes, her husband, Carroll County
State’s Attorney, 1994.
She received the School Bell Award
of the Maryland State Teachers’ Association
in 1988 for sustained coverage
and in 1989 for spot news. She received
the Distinguished Journalism
Award of the Society of Professional
Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, Maryland
Chapter, in 1989 and, in the same year,
Honorable Mention for the Features
Award from the Maryland-Delaware-
DC Press Association.
