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: District 1C candidates talk guns, governor : Sam Shawver : Times-News Staffwriter : CUMBERLAND The recent sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C. area couldn't have been prevented by tighter gun controls, according to both candidates in the delegate District 1-C race. : Republican LeRoy Myers and Democrat incumbent Casper Taylor Jr. also said they would have no problem working with a governor from the opposite party. : "I don't think gun control has anything to do with it," Myers said of the sniper shootings. : "We have more than enough legislation to control guns," he added. "These situations are going to happen as long as guns exist. When people are run over by cars, are we going to start taking the cars away?" : Myers said the best way to handle people who use guns to commit criminal acts is to put them behind bars without looking for ways to excuse their behavior. : The Washington County contractor was recently informed that the National Rifle Association has given him an endorsable "A" rating for his support of firearm rights. : "I do endorse gun safety education in schools, but only as an elective," he said. : "I also believe that Cas Taylor has represented himself as a staunch supporter of the right to bear arms while he's in Western Maryland," said Myers. "But when he's in Annapolis, it's a different story." : Taylor disagrees. : I've supported gun-safety legislation, and that's being distorted into a gun ban by some gadflies in our county," he said, referring to a law passed by the 2000 Maryland General Assembly that requires built-in trigger-lock systems on all firearms to be sold in the state after Dec. 31 of this year. : "The fact is that before the trigger-lock legislation was sent to the House ... there were amendments added that would take gun control out of the bill," Taylor explained. "So it was a gun-safety bill by the time it reached the House." : "This past session, I was the lead sponsor of a bill that would have put the National Rifle Association's Eddie Eagle gun-safety education program into public schools, not as a requirement, but as an elective, so every parent and their students could decide if they want to take that course of study," he said. : "I did support a ban on Saturday-night specials, but that just took trash guns off the streets, and you can't find many people who disapproved of that legislation," said Taylor. : "I believe one of the real answers to our gun problems is education. If we teach proper use of guns, we're going to solve the problem of gun injuries and deaths, especially as it relates to kids," he continued. "But gun control doesn't work. That's why I don't support gun control. : "The rifle is not the problem, the problem is the crazy individual whose hands are on that gun," Taylor said of the recent shootings. "I've always said that there are more guns per capita in Western Maryland than in the Baltimore area, but we don't use them to kill people out here. : "I firmly believe in the Second Amendment that gives all of us the right to bear arms, but I'm all for keeping firearms out of the hands of kids and for gun-safety education," he said. : On another topic, Myers was asked if he could work with a Democrat governor if Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is elected to that office. : "I feel one of my best assets is to get along with almost anybody," he said. I've owned a business for 18 years, and it's just something you learn to do. Of course there are compromises, and you can't be totally stringent. : "But I also know I'll be working with a mostly Democrat legislature," Myers added. "If I can work with them in the House, I can work with Townsend too, if she's elected. : "I can absolutely work with either one," Taylor said. "I know Bob Ehrlich from when he worked in the state legislature over several years. He knows the legislative process and knows the responsibility I have as leader of that body." : "Bob also knows that in the state of Maryland, the governor needs the legislature to accomplish his or her agenda and get the budget signed into law," Taylor added. : Copyright © 2002 Cumberland Times-News

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