Prince George's plans to require gun safety brochures at shooting ranges and gun dealers – NBC4 Washington

The Prince George's County Council is considering passing legislation creating safety and mental health requirements for local gun dealers and shooting ranges.

The proposed law would require gun dealers and gun range operators in the county to publish and distribute literature addressing gun safety and suicide prevention.

The Grant Colefield Act is named after a 21-year-old who, in 2019, went to a Maryland shooting range, obtained a gun and used it to kill himself.

Earlier this month, his uncle Jeffrey Grant told the county council that if such documents had been presented at the shooting range, his nephew might still be alive.

“At least something or someone could have stopped him or he could have thought about it before he went to a shooting range and got access to the gun that ended his life,” he said. he testified.

Bill sponsor Krystal Oriadha, a District 7 council member, said the Prince George's County Health Department will develop the language in the pamphlet.

“It must be visibly displayed in all these businesses and it must also be given to anyone who buys a gun, buys ammunition or visits a shooting range,” she said.

The bill is modeled after legislation in Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties. Gun rights group Maryland Shall Issue filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court against Anne Arundel's law based on a First Amendment argument.

“Governments cannot force citizens to say something they would rather not say,” said Maryland Shall Issue President Mark Pennak. “This has been First Amendment law for many decades.”

He said the county could post literature elsewhere and set up stands outside gun ranges and dealers with the message.

“You can’t force others to be your spokesperson,” he said.

“To me, it’s the simplest thing we can do,” Oriadha said. “It’s sad to me that this is something that’s controversial,”

Whether this material can be enforced by law with fines for non-production could be decided by the courts.

The Prince George's County Council could vote on the Grant Colefield Act as soon as next month.