MD State Police MPIA Request Fund

I apologize in advance, as this post is going to be long. As many of you know, we have been in contact with Maryland State Police regarding multiple issues, two of which are the subject of a current Public Information Act request. Long story short, I need your help funding this request. Many of you have seen the "new" Advisory, but this is the story of WHY that Advisory was published, and how MSP tried to cover their tracks by deleting evidence of their impropriety.

The Subjects of the current issues can be summarized thusly, with our positions in the documents linked thereafter.

The sale of firearm receivers, to include those that MSP now state are "pistol" receivers

The sale of AR-type and other receivers that could, illegally, be built into Assault Long Guns

Here are the facts that show what MSP has done, how they have responded (or not responded):

• On multiple occasions dating from October 1, 2013 to at least the end of 2014, multiple persons from Engage Armament LLC attempted to get MD State Police’s Licensing Division to issue formal, written guidance on the sale and transfer of certain firearm receivers. On MDSP.org, it states that, “If you are considering the purchase of a firearm and are unsure if the firearm is banned, contact the Maryland Regulated Firearms Dealer you are utilizing for your purchase. Maryland regulated firearms dealers are best suited to answer questions about the various types of firearms available.”

• After these attempts went unfulfilled, we, with the assistance of outside counsel, conducted a review of the applicable laws and determined that the sale or transfer of any firearm receiver is not a Regulated Firearm under MD law, nor are they subject to the MSP 77R requirement.

• On Friday, July 17, 2015, Engage Armament LLC was contacted by Corporal Jason Edwards of MD State Police’s Licensing Division via telephone, informing Engage Armament LLC that MSP had received a customer complaint that an AR-type lower receiver was transferred without the completion of a MSP Form 77R as a lower is a Regulated Firearm. Corporal Edwards was, “not interested in arguing semantics because I know you are an attorney,” but wanted to inform Engage Armament that the matter was being forwarded to MSP’s Firearms Enforcement Division for investigation/criminal charges. An email from Corporal Edwards was received on July 20, 2015 outlining the same information and included a newly published Licensing Division Advisory dated May 16, 2014.

• In my conversation with Corporal Edwards via telephone on July 17, 2015 he stated that, “the Advisory is still in effect.” When I questioned him as to what Advisory he was referring to, he did not answer until a copy of LD-FRS-2014-003 was included in his email to Andrew Raymond, dated July 20, 2015 (“Complaint” attached).

• Although this MSP Advisory is dated May 16, 2014, it was not published for public dissemination until at least May 4, 2015 (the latest date at which an internet archive search is available. Found at https://web.archive.org/web/20150504...Documents.aspx accessed July 20, 2015 at 2:59PM.) According to the Metadata for the Advisory PDFs found on MDSP.org, all of the Licensing Division Advisories except LD-FRS-14-003 have a last edited date of June 30, 2015, in preparation for the move to the new website. Metadata for LD-FRS-14-003 revealed that this Advisory was uploaded to MDSP.ORG on June 19th, 2015, two days after Corporal Edwards’ call to Engage Armament LLC and mere hours before his follow up email which attached the Advisory. Unlike ALL other MSP Advisories, this was NEVER sent via email and fax to all MD Regulated Firearms Dealers. On the contrary, after initial contact with Corporal Edwards we reached out to several other Regulated Firearms Dealers and inquired if they had ever seen this Advisory. While the vast majority had never seen it, at least one Dealer had been provided the Advisory towards the end of 2014 in a private communication with Maryland State Police Licensing Division personnel after inquiring about the sale of certain firearm receivers. This communication had a signature reading, “E-mail Legal Disclaimer: This e-mail, and any attachments thereto, is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain privileged and/or sensitive information. Any unauthorized re-transmission of this message is prohibited.”

• On July 22, 2015 John Porea, MSP Investigator, was sent to our location by Sr. Trooper Quintana Walker (#4988) with the MSP Firearms Enforcement Unit. Mr. Porea commenced to, unlike all other Compliance Examinations we have undergone, demand copies of our Federal Bound Book for all transactions that involved receivers and failed to conduct a review of our 77R records. In an attempt to understand what MSP’s position was on the matter, we were ultimately told that MSP was operating under guidance from Mark Bowen, who stated that, “it is better to be safe than sorry, that’s why a 77R is required.” After unsuccessfully trying to communicate that that is not how the law works, we turned over the requested documentation to MSP.

• In response to these allegations and statements that are not supported by law, I wrote to Colonel Pallozzi and Captain Dalaine Brady at MSP asking for a formal review of the Advisory with clear statements as to why MD law does not support the purported conclusion by MSP. In addition to this letter, a Maryland Public Information Act request was submitted to MSP so as to ensure there are no other unpublished Advisories that we are being held to without our knowledge.

• At some point between the receipt of Letter 1/MPIA 1 and September 3, 2015, MSP has gone into the Advisory on MDSP.org and deleted the aforementioned Metadata, in an apparent attempt to conceal evidence of their impropriety.

• On September 3, 2015 I sent a follow-up letter asking why, after 38 days elapsed, Engage Armament LLC has yet to receive a response to our MPIA request, and if MSP plans to respond or if they are requiring us to seek redress with a court of competent jurisdiction. Also included with this letter was a second MPIA request seeking information as to the disappearance of the Metadata.

• On September 11, 2015 I finally received the initial disclosures for the PIA request, all of which is linked below. This response clearly indicates, "Advisory LD-FRS-14-003 was posted on MDSP.ORG on July 19, 2015 @ 6:55 p.m." Not only is 7:00PM an odd time to publish something, that is two days after we were told we were breaking the law as outlined in an unpublished Advisory.

I love my job, and I don't think everyone else would put in the hours I have with this. I need your help to fund this project, and I have many more things in the works with MSP.