Lately Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown's campaign committee has been running negative ads against Larry Hogan and bringing up the usual diatribes about "assault weapons" and "high capacity magazines" as evidence that Hogan is not right for Maryland ("Brown ad attacks Hogan's opposition to assault-rifle ban," Oct. 3).
Given that Mr. Brown has been in office for seven years, he should be able to answer the following questions:
How many people in Maryland have been shot or killed over the past seven years by legally owned assault weapons (based on the Maryland definition of the weapons, not their military function)?
How many people in Maryland have been shot or killed by legally owned and registered weapons with a magazine capacity of 10 or more rounds?
How many people in Maryland were shot or killed by illegally possessed assault weapons which were not possible for law enforcement agencies to account for prior to their use?
How many people in Maryland were shot or killed by illegally possessed weapons with 10 rounds or more magazine capacities which were not possible for law enforcement agencies to account for prior to their use?
If the answers show that the numbers in questions 3 and 4 far outweigh those in questions 1 and 2, I suggest that the Brown camp stop its usual myth-mongering in an attempt to influence low information voters.
Stephen L. "Cookie" Sewell, Aberdeen
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