www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46872-2002Jan27.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 28, 2002; Page B01
Maryland Sen. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. last week proposed costly gun control legislation that made many mainstream politicians cringe. Today, he will announce a plan to raise the cigarette tax by 70 cents -- an almost certain election-year dud in much of the state.
But in Montgomery County, where the Democrat is running for Congress, waging war on guns and cigarettes are sure-fire political winners. This is, remember, the county where banning smoking in the home was a concept that enjoyed a fleeting whiff of popularity.
"There is no place in Maryland where you would find stronger support for either idea than in Montgomery County," said pollster Keith Haller, president of Potomac Survey Research, of Bethesda.
Before Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) battled state lawmakers over a cigarette tax increase in 1999 and fought into law a requirement that all guns be sold with disabling trigger locks in 2000, those were local laws, firmly in place in Montgomery.
The county passed its own tax on tobacco in 1998 -- though state law precluded it from applying to cigarettes -- and applied its own gun lock requirement to local firearm owners in 1997.
Del. Mark K. Shriver (D-Montgomery), who will run against Van Hollen in the Democratic primary Sept. 10, has also been thinking about these issues. Although his career in the House of Delegates has been focused mostly on issues related to children and families, Shriver signed on as a sponsor of gun licensing legislation this year.
The bill, a House version of the measure championed by Van Hollen and Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery) in the Senate, would require gun owners to carry a license, in the same manner the state requires drivers to be licensed.
The cost of the measure would not be small -- an entire apparatus would have to be developed to produce and monitor the licenses.
The concept has few fans in Annapolis, but a recent poll by Potomac Survey Research showed that a ban on handguns is favored by almost 60 percent of Montgomery County residents, and that includes Republicans. The county's current representative in Congress, Constance A. Morella, a Republican, has voted with the Democrats on major gun control legislation.
The tobacco tax increase is another idea that will carry popular support in Montgomery, though one that Shriver has not endorsed.
"The goal is laudable," he said. "But I don't think the bill has much chance in an election year."
That is the prevailing wisdom in Annapolis, largely because Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Prince George's) has said repeatedly he wants no part of any tax increase this year and has led opposition to the governor's plan to delay a planned income tax reduction.
"He's saying, don't let the Republicans come after us on taxes," said Sen. Thomas McLain Middleton (D-Charles), who was an ardent foe of a $1r tobacco tax championed by the governor and Van Hollen three years ago.
That effort became mired in a filibuster until both sides agreed on a 30-cent increase in the tax on cigarettes, making it 66 cents per pack. (In Virginia, the tax is 2.5 cents per pack; the District's is 65 cents.)
Van Hollen has supported both the cigarette and gun control issues strongly in past years, and he says they aren't the product of an election-year conversion or political strategy brainstorm.
A gun control bill he backed in 1996 passed, mandating a crackdown on sales at gun shows and a limit on purchases to one gun per month but not the licensing he had sought.
"For me, this is unfinished business, not something new to get to in an election year," Van Hollen said.
Even if his stands have limited appeal in Annapolis, observers there understand that politically, they couldn't hurt him in Montgomery. In fact, under a current Democratic redistricting plan, the congressional district will become far more liberal.
"If there is one consequence of taking these assertive positions, it could potentially set him apart as the most left-of-center candidate in this very progressive district," Haller said.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 28, 2002; Page B01
Maryland Sen. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. last week proposed costly gun control legislation that made many mainstream politicians cringe. Today, he will announce a plan to raise the cigarette tax by 70 cents -- an almost certain election-year dud in much of the state.
But in Montgomery County, where the Democrat is running for Congress, waging war on guns and cigarettes are sure-fire political winners. This is, remember, the county where banning smoking in the home was a concept that enjoyed a fleeting whiff of popularity.
"There is no place in Maryland where you would find stronger support for either idea than in Montgomery County," said pollster Keith Haller, president of Potomac Survey Research, of Bethesda.
Before Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) battled state lawmakers over a cigarette tax increase in 1999 and fought into law a requirement that all guns be sold with disabling trigger locks in 2000, those were local laws, firmly in place in Montgomery.
The county passed its own tax on tobacco in 1998 -- though state law precluded it from applying to cigarettes -- and applied its own gun lock requirement to local firearm owners in 1997.
Del. Mark K. Shriver (D-Montgomery), who will run against Van Hollen in the Democratic primary Sept. 10, has also been thinking about these issues. Although his career in the House of Delegates has been focused mostly on issues related to children and families, Shriver signed on as a sponsor of gun licensing legislation this year.
The bill, a House version of the measure championed by Van Hollen and Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery) in the Senate, would require gun owners to carry a license, in the same manner the state requires drivers to be licensed.
The cost of the measure would not be small -- an entire apparatus would have to be developed to produce and monitor the licenses.
The concept has few fans in Annapolis, but a recent poll by Potomac Survey Research showed that a ban on handguns is favored by almost 60 percent of Montgomery County residents, and that includes Republicans. The county's current representative in Congress, Constance A. Morella, a Republican, has voted with the Democrats on major gun control legislation.
The tobacco tax increase is another idea that will carry popular support in Montgomery, though one that Shriver has not endorsed.
"The goal is laudable," he said. "But I don't think the bill has much chance in an election year."
That is the prevailing wisdom in Annapolis, largely because Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Prince George's) has said repeatedly he wants no part of any tax increase this year and has led opposition to the governor's plan to delay a planned income tax reduction.
"He's saying, don't let the Republicans come after us on taxes," said Sen. Thomas McLain Middleton (D-Charles), who was an ardent foe of a $1r tobacco tax championed by the governor and Van Hollen three years ago.
That effort became mired in a filibuster until both sides agreed on a 30-cent increase in the tax on cigarettes, making it 66 cents per pack. (In Virginia, the tax is 2.5 cents per pack; the District's is 65 cents.)
Van Hollen has supported both the cigarette and gun control issues strongly in past years, and he says they aren't the product of an election-year conversion or political strategy brainstorm.
A gun control bill he backed in 1996 passed, mandating a crackdown on sales at gun shows and a limit on purchases to one gun per month but not the licensing he had sought.
"For me, this is unfinished business, not something new to get to in an election year," Van Hollen said.
Even if his stands have limited appeal in Annapolis, observers there understand that politically, they couldn't hurt him in Montgomery. In fact, under a current Democratic redistricting plan, the congressional district will become far more liberal.
"If there is one consequence of taking these assertive positions, it could potentially set him apart as the most left-of-center candidate in this very progressive district," Haller said.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
