Anti-Semitic Flier Targets 2 Md. Lawmakers
Article archived from Wjz.com
Mar 14, 2010 11:16 pm US/Eastern
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ)
Two Maryland lawmakers are the target of a flier that calls them "bagel brain Jews" for supporting tougher firearms legislation.
Derek Valcourt reports those fliers were recently mailed in Maryland.
We don’t know who distributed the fliers to homes in Montgomery County, but we do know who wrote them and why.
The flier, also online, uses name-calling and a message some are calling despicable.
It accuses Senator Brian Frosh and Baltimore Delegate Sandy Rosenberg of using racist policies to try to destroy gun rights.
"It’s garbage, and people can disagree, but you shouldn’t disagree by saying the other guys is a bagel brain Jew," said Rosenberg.
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Rosenberg says the attack is because he sponsored the House version of the Firearms Safety Act of 2010, a bill backed by law enforcement officials and several religious groups at a press conference last week.
Frosh sponsored the Senate version of the bill which he says closes loopholes in the state’s existing gun laws.
"They take guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, of people who may not be stable enough to have firearms in their possessions," said Frosh.
But the group, Jews for the Preservation of Firearm Ownership, disagrees. The Wisconsin-based group designed the flier and posted it on their website.
There they call themselves the most aggressive defenders of gun rights.
"They identify themselves as Jews, but they’re still anti-Semitic, and they’re apparently anti-black," said Art Abramson, Baltimore Jewish Council executive director.
Abramson points to the divisive messages on the flier, which he says aren’t based on fact or even logic.
"When you are trying to deal with a sick mind, you are going to have a great deal of difficulty figuring it out and trying to bring rationality to it, and that’s what we’re seeing here with these people," said Abramson.
"There’s too much angry, false rhetoric out there in public debate. We’ve seen it on the health care bill, and this is some of the same kind of tactics," said Rosenberg.
Both Maryland lawmakers targeted by the fliers say it hasn’t changed their opinion on the need for the new gun control legislation.