By Norman M. Covert
Folks are bitter and I’m one of the restless citizens. We keep clinging to our guns and our religion plus “antipathy to people who aren’t like (us)…” to paraphrase former candidate Barack Hussein Obama. That’s just the way we are and with good reason, Maryland’s leadership forgot to read the November tea leaves.
Raleigh Boaze Changing law took more than long rifle and tomahawk.
The state is deeply in debt and the legislature trots out bills for new taxes, marijuana, free love and more gun control. New Jersey and Wisconsin governors have shown us how to begin to solve our crises and cross the Red Sea in the manner of the Children of Israel, but we are stuck here with our collective heads in the sand.
So much for the reputation of this former colony, whose founders rejected the Church of England in favor of religious freedom for Roman Catholics and ultimately other orthodoxies. This time we are behind the leadership opportunity with Gov. Martin O’Malley’s pursuit of an opposite social agenda.
Liberal voters here are aquiver, anxious for passage of the high priority bills that would approve same-sex marriage and medical marijuana. This Western Maryland neighborhood is traditionally a bastion of conservatism in a state dominated by liberal politicians from Baltimore and Prince Georges counties.
"Half Scalp" Raleigh Boaze morphs into native American character to tell tales.
The same-sex marriage bill passed the Democrat-dominated Maryland Senate a week ago. It ran into a minor snag with the House Judiciary Committee, but it appears the bill will reach the floor for vote soon.
Del. Michael Hough (R-Frederick/Carroll Counties), also a member of the judiciary committee, commented he believes the bill is a tossup in the House.
With Senate President Thomas V. (Mike) Miller ruling the gavel, his majority is fast-tracking the bills, which when taken to referendum will probably be rejected, according to Hough and most of his minority party colleagues.
Marriage is a religious institution and same-sex relationships have nothing to do with marriage, claim traditionalists. Thus, here we are proving the prediction of now President Obama by clinging to our religion as a voice of reason.
Usually conservative state Sen. David Brinkley (R-Frederick/Carroll) agreed to co-sponsor the medical marijuana bill, saying he is convinced that smoking marijuana can ease the pain associated with cancer.
It is worth noting anecdotally the case of friends and acquaintances who tried — and succeeded — to use liquor as an analgesic. You don’t need a prescription to buy either Bourbon or Marijuana, the latter being less expensive on the street than at the local pharmacy.
Part two of this Annapolis drama involves Rosemont, Md., resident Raleigh Boaze. The big brother gun lobby once again is looking out for our welfare with a bill expanding the law forbidding guns on school grounds. It is a throwback to the Virginia Tech shooting.
Here is the description of Senate Bill 311:
“… prohibiting the carrying or possession of certain firearms, knives and deadly weapons at public institutions of higher education; providing for certain exceptions to this prohibition; and generally relating to the carrying or possession of firearms, knives, and deadly weapons….”
On its face the bill sounds all right. Like the law it would repeal, it contains the hidden power to forbid exceptions. The institution head must issue an invitation to anyone whose purpose is to educate students in the history and use of firearms. Aye, there’s the rub, the Bard noted.
Mr. Boaze was targeted by the original law. Now retired as a laboratory technician at the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, he is a French and Indian War living history interpreter. He has provided unique and popular classes for young people and adults for more than 20 years at Fort Frederick in Big Pool, Md., and area schools.
He appears in an outfit typical of a French and Indian War colonial scout/hunter: moccasins, leggings, breeches, linen shirt and hat. He also carries a flintlock long gun with necessary paraphernalia, tomahawk and bone-handled knife. Often he morphs into his Indian character, “Half Scalp,” to tell period historical tales. His impact on a student’s understanding of the frontier precursor to the American Revolution is well documented.
Maryland led the nation with its original law prohibiting firearms on school grounds. The federal law went through several iterations before the courts would agree to in 1995.
A legal interpretation by the William Donald Schaefer administration caught up with Mr. Boaze. He was banned from a Frederick County middle school in 1993.
In response he waged a one-man, three-year battle with the Maryland legislature. He lobbied and testified, wrote letters to the editors of every newspaper in the state and was able to keep himself in the news.
He earned at least a partial victory in 1996 when the legislature agreed to insert language in the law granting exception to historical presentations:
“4—102 (4) a person who, with a written invitation from the school principal, displays or engages in a historical demonstration using a weapon or a replica of a weapon for educational purposes.”
Following that law’s enactment, superintendants in several counties instructed school principals not to “invite Mr. Boaze….” His school lectures were rare after that law was amended and victory bittersweet.
Mr. Boaze is upset now that his own senator, Ronald N. Young (D-Frederick) would co-sponsor the bill, especially since the original was modified on behalf of this future constituent.
Mr. Boaze emailed Senator Young that the bill “is a wolf in sheep’s clothing…A perfectly good law with perfectly good intention has been manipulated and as a result learning has (and will suffer)… SB 311 is another law we don’t need.”
With such assaults on our sense and sensibilities it seems time to embrace — as did our forefathers — our trust in God and our collective power to make changes through the ballot box. Our guns are for protection, hunting and plinking, but remain a symbol of resistance to those who would steal our liberty.
(This article was published in its original form on www.thetentacle.com March 1, 2011 and is reprinted with permission of The Octopus™ LLC and the author.) •
Contact Norman Covert at nmcovert77@aol.com
