Posted by Phil Lee (216.250.238.34) on October 06, 2000 at 20:32:
Fairgrounds officials, state lawmakers to talk about gun shows
by Myra Mensh Patner, Montgomery Gazette
Staff Writer, Oct. 6, 2000
State legislators attracted the attention of Montgomery County fairgrounds officials this week with aggressive letters calling for an end to gun shows at the fairgrounds.
State Sen. Leonard H. Teitelbaum issued an ultimatum Monday, saying that fairgrounds officials could face potential action by the state General Assembly if they do not announce an end to gun shows by Oct. 15.
The nine-day deadline may not be met, but fairgrounds officials are discussing options and will make a statement soon, said attorney James Clifford of the Gaithersburg firm of Debelius, Clifford & Debelius.
"The board is considering everything that's going on," Clifford said Thursday. "We'll reach a consensus on all of this in the next few weeks."
Clifford said the decision would not affect the Oct. 21-22 gun show. He would not comment on the gun show set for Jan. 6-7, 2001.
Clifford said politicians' letters against gun shows surprised Montgomery County Agricultural Center and Fairgrounds officials. There have been guns shows twice a year at the fairgrounds in Gaithersburg since 1990 without interference from politicians.
But now Teitelbaum (D-Dist. 19) of Silver Spring, Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Chevy Chase and others are saying they would have blocked a $400,000 bond bill for the fairgrounds two years ago if they had known about the gun shows.
"I am extremely unhappy that public money has gone to an institution which, by hosting gun shows, encourages the proliferation of firearms in our State," wrote Frosh in a letter to Ron Magaha, president of the board of the fairgrounds.
Frosh also wrote: "In 1998, I joined six other Senators in sponsoring a bond bill ... Coincidentally, that same year, firearms accounted for 339 murders in Maryland and figured in 4,407 aggravated assaults."
Other state legislators, including Sens. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (D-Dist.18) of Kensington and Ida G. Ruben (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring and Dels. Nancy K. Kopp and Marilyn R. Goldwater (both D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda also said this week they regret voting for the bond bill after learning about the gun shows in The Gazette.
"I wouldn't have co-sponsored the bond bill had I known," Ruben said Monday. "I am not happy with the fact that we gave them money."
Ruben was one of seven state senators who sponsored the state bond bill, which obtained matching funds from the county and the City of Gaithersburg.
Clifford said Tuesday he resented the fact that politicians were airing their views through The Gazette rather than by personally contacting fairgrounds officials.
But Clifford said Thursday he has since called Teitelbaum and Frosh and cleared the air. "We were able to educate each other," he said.
Clifford said fairgrounds officials have been caught off-guard by an avalanche of opposition suddenly surfacing over its gun shows.
"We have gotten ourselves into the middle of a controversy we could not anticipate," Clifford said. "How could we have possibly known there would be this crusade over gun shows?"
He said legislators have never laid out standards they want to see at the privately owned, 59-acre fairgrounds, which for more than half a century has been the site of a popular August county fair.
Clifford said the fairgrounds operates a business and serves only as landlord. All kinds of groups could object to events that regularly occur at the fairgrounds, including events such as gay rodeos.
"Tell us what our standards should be," Clifford said. "This gun issue is not an issue we support or are against. We're getting dragged into a national debate on something we have no position on."
Montgomery County Councilman Blair G. Ewing (D-At large) of Silver Spring took up the gun show issue last month after learning in The Gazette that the county helped match the 1998 state bond money.
Montgomery County gave $250,000, while the Montgomery County Arts Council gave $220,000. The City of Gaithersburg also gave $125,000, said Tony Tomasello, Gaithersburg's director of economic development.
In all, the fairgrounds has received roughly $1 million in state, county and City of Gaithersburg money for renovations.
Ewing is looking into county legislation on gun shows at the fairgrounds, and planning to hold a public discussion on the topic.
The newly organized Montgomery County Chapter of the Million Mom March plans to picket the Oct. 21-22 gun show at the fairgrounds, said Tierney O'Neil of Chevy Chase, organizer of the chapter.
The man who promotes the gun shows, Frederick-based Frank Krasner of Silverado Promotions, also has shows at the Frederick fairgrounds, the Howard County fairgrounds, the Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro and the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center in Salisbury, Md.
Krasner, who spoke to The Gazette for the original story Sept. 13, has since declined to comment.