Former troops and legislators fear the new reaction force could be used to stifle peaceful protests or intimidate voters in future elections, while a public safety analyst told The Baltimore Sun the use of the National Guard to address crime is unprecedented, costly and unwise.

Across the United States, “No Kings” demonstrations have popped up in most major cities since President Donald Trump took office, including in Baltimore. These protests have been aimed at issues such as increased health care costs included in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that passed Congress this summer, or the current federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.

And at times, Trump has sought to use the National Guard to quash protests, as he attempted to do in Portland following daily protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facility that had turned contentious. Frustrated when the governor of Oregon declined to send National Guard troops to Portland, the Trump administration responded by federalizing the soldiers.

The Maryland Military Department declined to comment on the reaction force. A spokesman for the National Guard told The Sun these reaction forces are “not new” and that they are deployed in times of “civil disturbance operations, crowd control, area security, critical infrastructure protection and disaster response.

“These on-call elements have existed for approximately 20 years in every state and territory as a response force available to governors,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the executive order is intended to “fine-tune, augment and adequately resource National Guard civil support elements” in advance of FIFA World Cup matches in 11 U.S. cities (none of which are in Maryland), the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and celebrations of the nation’s 250th year.

“As commander in chief of the Maryland National Guard, the governor remains confident in the Guard’s commitment to their mission protecting and assisting the residents of Maryland under his command,” Gov. Wes Moore’s Senior Advisor and Communications Director David Turner told The Sun in an emailed statement.

The National Guard troops were deployed this summer to Los Angeles — which a federal judge in September ruled illegal — and the president has threatened to send troops to other U.S. cities in California, Texas and Oregon.

At a gathering of military brass in October, Trump called for using U.S. cities as a training ground for troops and warned of an “invasion from within.”

National Guard deployments not tied to long-term crime declines

This use of the National Guard as a reaction force is “unprecedented,” said Hanna Love, a Brookings Institution fellow on public safety.

“If you look at the patterns of where this administration has focused its deployment of National Guard troops, it’s a lot of Black cities, a lot of ‘woke’ places,” she said. “We’re seeing targeting of places that have a lot to do with the demographics and the political leanings of those places, which is alarming.”

Love said using the National Guard as a police force is expensive and ineffective in the long run.

“If you’re trying to think of the most effective ways to ease civil disorder, this is one of the most costly ways you can do it, and it really does underline the idea that at its core, crime is a local issue,” Love said. “The times we’ve seen policing be the most effective in high-violence areas is when you have police from the community, rooted in the community and have strong relationships with the community.”

Love said Washington, D.C., and Memphis have seen a decline in crime after National Guard troops were deployed to police those cities’ streets. However, she said data indicated that a decrease in crime would be short-term.

“Rather than solving why the crime is happening, it’s putting a Band-Aid and pushing crime underground,” Love said. “We don’t have evidence that crime declines from the National Guard and federal law enforcement [deployments] have resulted in lasting declines.”

‘Absolutely intimidating’

Navpreet Sandher, a former Marine who served from 2009-2013 and deployed to Afghanistan on a combat mission for much of 2011, now lives in Baltimore and works as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. He plans to speak at a veteran-led protest on Monday about the quick reaction forces creation and deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles.

When uniformed troops, holding weapons or outfitted in riot gear, show up to peaceful protests or stand outside polls, it has a chilling effect on freedom of speech and the feeling of safety among residents, Sandher said. He is worried the National Guard could be used to depress voter turnout or sway election outcomes.

“It’s absolutely intimidating,” Sandher said. “Local leaders are being more complicit than I think they should. Ultimately, [military leaders] can’t say no [to orders] but maybe they shouldn’t stand by and just watch it unfold.”

Sandher said he’d like to see the National Guard stand down from these strike forces in the short term and for deployments to U.S. cities to cease, but in the long term, he hopes the government funnels less money into the military and more into needed services like public transportation and health care.

“More military’s not the answer to all of our problems,” Sandher said. “Your neighbors aren’t the root of all your problems.”

National Guard as election security?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat representing Maryland, also said he was concerned National Guard troops could be used to deter people from voting.

“Maryland’s National Guard fulfills a number of critical missions in our state,” Chris Van Hollen said in an email statement to The Sun. “Yet, the Trump Administration wants to turn National Guards across the country into a domestic police force to discourage Americans from exercising their constitutional rights.

“All Americans should be concerned about the weaponization of our military here at home, and what this may mean now and into the future, especially when it comes to the sanctity of our elections and safeguarding Americans’ voting rights.”

Alleged voter fraud and election security have long been talking points in Trump’s campaigns for office over the past decade, with the president alleging that people without citizenship are voting in great numbers. There is no evidence that either claim is accurate. Voting as a noncitizen is a felony, punishable with jail time and deportation, and data shows it is “exceedingly rare.”

In 2016 nonpartisan law and policy organization, the Brennan Center for Justice, surveyed local election officials in 42 jurisdictions with high immigrant populations on voter participation. Researchers found 30 cases in which suspected noncitizens voted out of 23.5 million ballots cast, or 0.0001%.

Earlier this year, Trump issued an order on voting that would have required people to show documented proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or U.S. passport, when registering to vote.

The Associated Press contributed to this article. Contact journalist Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

The state’s National Guard has prioritized creating the quick reaction force and intends to dedicate hundreds of soldiers to the effort.

“As Commander in Chief of the Maryland National Guard, the Governor remains confident in the Guard’s commitment to their mission protecting and assisting the residents of Maryland under his command,” Gov. Wes Moore’s Senior Advisor and Communications Director David Turner, told The Baltimore Sun in an email.

Signed by the Pentagon’s National Guard Bureau’s Director of Operations, Maj. Gen Ronald Burkett, the Oct. 8 memo was first reported on by The Guardian.

The memo requires quick reaction forces to be able to deploy 25% of the force within eight hours, 50% within 12 hours and 100% within 24 hours.

When reached for comment, the Maryland Military Department referred The Sun to the National Guard Bureau of Public Affairs, which confirmed the formation of a Maryland-based quick reaction force, to be in place no later than April 1, 2026.

The memo followed an Aug. 25 executive order, No. 14339, a National Guard spokesman told The Baltimore Sun.

“These on-call elements have existed for approximately 20 years in every state and territory as a response force available to governors for a wide range of tasks,” the spokesman said in an email. “Their capabilities include civil disturbance operations, crowd control, area security, critical infrastructure protection and disaster response.”

The spokesman said the action is intended to “fine-tune, augment and adequately resource National Guard civil support elements” in advance of FIFA World Cup matches in 11 U.S. cities, the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and celebrations of the nation’s 250th year.

Contact journalist Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

“It’s kind of like they [are] trying to just take your money,” he said.

The Baltimore Sun found that many Maryland colleges and universities routinely issue more parking permits to students than they have parking spaces. But students like Nguyen say they can’t afford a permit in the first place, which can run around $400. Students said they can’t afford the tickets, either, which range from $12 to $300.

Last school year, campus police departments across Maryland issued 115,528 tickets to students, faculty, staff, and visitors for a total of $3,379,440. The Sun requested parking citation data for tickets issued during the 2024-2025 school year from the following Maryland schools:

• University of Maryland College Park (UMD)
• Towson University
• University of Maryland Eastern Shore
• Coppin State University
• Bowie State University
• Frostburg State University
• The University of Baltimore
• University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB)
• University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)
• Morgan State University
• Salisbury University

Citations add up across universities

Universities say they offer plenty of parking spots, but students aren’t buying permits.

Most tickets were for “no valid permit,” costing students $12–$85 depending on the university. At Coppin State, 68% of all tickets issued were for failing to have a valid permit.

When Morgan State student Devin Winder received a parking ticket next to an academic building, he never parked there again. Now, he makes the trek from his off-campus apartment building to avoid any potential tickets and expensive permit fees.

The most expensive violation across the board is parking in a handicapped space, coming in at $300 at UMD. This violation accounted for less than 1 percent of tickets issued.

Unpaid parking fines can put a hold on a student’s account, Salisbury spokesperson Jason Rhodes said in an email to The Sun. That keeps Salisbury students from registering for classes or campus housing for the following semester, or graduating students from receiving their diplomas, he said.

The University System of Maryland deploys this tactic, as well. A student’s car could be towed if they have several unpaid parking citations. Students can appeal tickets to avoid paying the ticket, a university spokesperson said in an email.

But UMD rejected fewer than half of appeals, data showed, and students told The Sun they were unsure whether their appeals would be granted. As a result, some said they don’t even try to go through the appeals process.

When Morgan State student Makayla Davis received a ticket for parking in a garage she thought was free, she didn’t bother appealing it, instead paying the $30 fine.

Morgan State University said in an email that since January 2025, about “375 appeals have been submitted and reviewed by a committee consisting of representatives from the University Police Department and the Department of Parking and Transportation.”

Between July 2024 and June 2025, Morgan State voided 88 citations, a spokesperson said. “While the University cannot guarantee that every appeal will result in a waived citation or fee, we are confident in the fairness and integrity of our review process.”

UMD declined to answer questions from The Sun.

Overselling parking spaces

Schools routinely issued more parking permits than they had available parking spaces, data The Sun reviewed showed — earning hundreds of thousands or even millions from resulting tickets.

During the 2024-’25 school year, the UMD earned almost $1.8 million in revenue from parking citations issued to faculty, staff and visitors — as if each of the 41,725 students paid a $43 ticket.

That same year, UMD handed out 19,585 parking permits for around 16,000 parking spaces, or about 1.2 permits per space.

Of all schools surveyed, UMBC had the highest permit-to-spot ratio, at 1.47, awarding 10,586 permits for 7,200 spaces.

But there’s a good reason to oversell parking permits, Henry Grabar, a parking analyst, told The Sun. Grabar wrote a book on parking, called “Paved Paradise, How Parking Explains the World.”

Universities operate under the expectation that every permit holder will not all park at the same time every day, opening the door to selling more permits than there are spaces, Grabar said, and selling more permits than spaces is common practice.

“Are there in fact not enough parking spaces, or is it merely a case of people behaving badly and parking where they’re not supposed to?” Grabar said.

OperationsCommander, a Canada-based company that focuses on parking and security management, and works with colleges and universities across North America, says the industry standard is selling between 20% to 40% over available spaces.

Rhodes said he doesn’t believe adding more parking spaces would decrease parking citations, noting that many tickets are issued to people who don’t buy available parking passes.

People expect free and accessible parking, Grabar said, but providing it is expensive, and universities don’t want to divert a large amount of resources to it.

Grabar said higher permit fees could lower overcrowding, and suggested schools scale parking fines to avoid issuing harsh, expensive fines right off the bat.

“The point of having a parking management system is not to take people’s money,” Grabar said. “It’s to ration out the access to this scarce resource that everybody wants a piece of.”

Even when permits are available, the hefty price tag has deterred students like Nguyen from purchasing them.

Christian Collins, a policy analyst for the Center for Law and Social Policy who focuses on post-secondary education, said that parking citations are just another financial barrier for students to overcome to get a degree.

Collins also noted that punishments like a hold on students’ accounts have a larger impact on low-income students who struggle to pay off their tickets, and warned against inequitable policies.

“If it’s coming at the cost of certain students effectively becoming barred from participating in education, educational opportunities and campus in general, then is it really the best design policy that you can offer?” Collins

“There’s no reason we have to keep paying hundreds of thousands of dollars just to go [to school ] here, and we have to worry about parking,” Morgan State student Davis said.

Where does the money go?

The money schools collect from student tickets often funds the departments that issue them.

UMD has the highest number of parking citations, but also the largest campus by student enrollment, with Towson, UMBC, Salisbury and Morgan State following close behind in citations issued.

Although Towson generates revenue from parking citations, a university spokesperson said they are primarily focused on ensuring “safe” use of the parking facilities.

Frostburg State had one of the lowest numbers of tickets issued among universities The Sun surveyed, giving out 2,424 tickets and receiving $59,000 in revenue. Frostburg State does not require students, faculty and staff to purchase annual parking permits, and offers multiple free off-campus parking locations. Its small campus makes the walk for free parking seem more appealing, a spokesperson for the university’s police said.

This story has been updated to correct Morgan State’s response to student concerns about the ticket appeals process.

Stella Canino-Quiñones contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Ela Jalil at ejalil@baltsun.com. 

“The entire time I’m reading it I’m thinking, ‘Replevin,’” Cogen said. “I’m saying in my head, ‘Replevin!’ That could be a remedy.”

Although Cogen can’t give legal advice, he contacted The Sun to make sure residents know how to recoup their personal belongings should they ever find themselves in a similar situation.

“This woman has personal property in possession of somebody else, allegedly in violation of the law,” Cogen said. “A writ of replevin … is geared toward returning property through the civil process.”

Nefertiti Lyles-Myers, a full-time social worker, had been on her way to her weekend job as a yacht captain headed to the Port of Baltimore. Before she could get there, however, her car broke down in the street, less than two miles from her destination.

She gathered her things and called her mechanic, but Frankford Towing arrived first. They towed her car to their Quad Street location, but when she arrived to inspect her car and retrieve her items, including several laptops intended for clients, they refused to allow her access. A representative even refused to comply when a Baltimore City police officer told them that state law required they allow her to collect her belongings.

The officer ultimately told Lyles-Myers this was a civil matter and that they could not help her any further. He directed her to the district court.

As of October, she owes the towing company more than $2,000, she said.

Under Maryland State Code governing commercial law, 16A–101, “an authorized tow company shall provide a vehicle owner or operator … with reasonable access to a vehicle … so that the vehicle owner or operator or the owner’s designee may access and collect any personal property or cargo contained in the vehicle, regardless of whether any payment has been made for the authorized tow company’s services.”

In civil situations like this, Cogen said, residents should reach out to the district court for a writ of replevin.

Residents can file a writ of replevin on their local district court website. Once a writ is filed, a sheriff’s deputy will serve a “show cause” warrant on the person or business accused of withholding property illegally, according to Cogen’s office.

The information or evidence will go back to the district court for a judge’s ruling. If the judge rules in the plaintiff’s favor, the deputy will ensure the transaction is carried out — even if the plaintiff owes the person or business money, as the law recognizes people can be irreparably harmed outside of any judgments against them.

“If people knew their rights under the law and that this filing existed, maybe they could find some relief,” Cogen said.

Cogen’s office is familiar with towing — under him, the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office purchased its own tow truck using forfeited assets so it didn’t have to contract out tows or wait weeks for the city to collect abandoned or blighted vehicles or Sheriff’s Office patrol cars that had been in accidents.

“When our deputies would break down or someone was parked illegally around the court facility, it would take forever for us to get someone to [collect the car]. And we were doing traffic enforcement, and we wanted to have the ability to self-enforce.

“Abandoned vehicles, the city was saying it would take a month to pick them up,” Cogen said. “People were really upset about it. That’s one of the ways we can help the community: we can get rid of abandoned vehicles in under-resourced neighborhoods. People view it as blight and disorder.”

Have you had an issue with a towing company in Baltimore? Contact Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

The Senate Finance Committee’s Democratic staff, led by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, is exploring whether Bisignano knew during his confirmation procedures that the firm, Fiserv,  had bid — or was planning to — on a pending 5-year Direct Express contract, which distributes government benefits to about 3.4 million Americans via prepaid cards, a committee spokesperson said.

Another Democrat, Connecticut Rep. John Larson, told The Sun that Bisignano’s “connection to Fiserv certainly raises questions about Treasury’s new contract. Especially as he moves to end paper checks for monthly benefits, which could push hundreds of thousands of Americans over to Direct Express, he has a responsibility to be transparent about any potential conflicts of interest.”

The Sun reached out to Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo, the Finance Committee chairman, for comment and did not hear back by publication.

The Social Security Administration did not make Bisignano available for an interview as requested, but responded to The Sun’s questions. An agency spokesperson wrote that  “throughout the process and following his confirmation by the Senate, Commissioner Bisignano fully complied with all obligations required under his federal government ethics agreement as a Senate-confirmed presidential appointee.”

The contract was awarded to  Fifth Third, an Ohio-based bank, and began on Sept. 9, according to the company’s news release that day naming Money Network Financial, LLC as the program’s manager. Money Network Financial is a subsidiary of Fiserv, the company  Bisignano headed as chairman and CEO until stepping down on May 6 to take over the federal agency.

Bisignano, whose former company is one  of the world’s largest payment and financial technology firms, told the Senate panel in a March 25 question-and-answer document: “I have committed to divest all Fiserv holdings if confirmed.”

There was no mention of the contract in the 54-page document — which was part of the confirmation process — or during statements at his committee confirmation.

In the response to The Sun’s questions, SSA said “there was not an open contract for the Direct Express program” during his nomination and confirmation process. The agency noted that Bank of New York Mellon had originally been given the debit card contract in November 2024, which was before President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Bisignano in December.

Trump, then the incoming president, posted on Truth Social on Dec. 4 that Bisignano, a top Republican donor “will be responsible to deliver on the Agency’s commitment to the American People for generations to come!”

After that, however, the bidding process timeline is difficult to reconstruct. That’s because the agreement with Bank of New York Mellon never moved forward, and the contract had to be rebid.

It is unclear when Fifth Third became a bidder for the contract or its value. The contract was awarded by the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The bureau did not immediately return messages on Wednesday about the contract timetable.

The debit card program, widely used by people without bank accounts, has a history of customer service issues.

Martin O’Malley, a former Social Security Administration commissioner, told The Sun: “Congress should have questions for any commissioner in light of this conflict.  Among them is: ‘Did you know that your company was bidding on this work during your confirmation?’ ”

The SSA spokesperson said the agency “had no role in the selection of prime or sub-contractors”  by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service for the Direct Express contract.  The spokesperson said multiple federal agencies — not just SSA — use Direct Express for benefit payments.

O’Malley, also a former Maryland governor and Baltimore mayor, disagreed with that characterization, saying he was “in  conversations with Treasury” about the Direct Express contract when he was commissioner, ending in November 2024

O’Malley said Bisignano’s situation raises a question about impartiality. “Who would object if the commissioner’s company weren’t abiding by the terms of the contract? I mean, who is it that says that they’re not fulfilling the customer service requirements? Is it the Treasury or is it the commissioner of Social Security?” he said.

The Social Security Administration, based in Baltimore County, paid more than $1.5 trillion in benefits last year to more than 72 million people.

Nominees to head agencies must make disclosures about sources of outside income, non-government positions and other personal information.

Short of that, ethical concerns might be raised “if a company where you’ve been on the inside is competing for government business, or competing for government licenses of some sort,” said David A. Super, an administrative law scholar at Georgetown University Law Center.

“People with that sort of history have been required to recuse themselves,” said Super, who spoke generally and did not address Bisignano’s situation. “Some administrations, not this one, have put in blanket policies preventing officials from talking with former employers.”

The Social Security Administration has been encouraging beneficiaries who receive paper checks to switch to debit cards. It announced earlier this year that, with few exceptions,  it would stop issuing paper checks to beneficiaries on Sept. 30. That followed a March executive order issued by  Trump requiring all federal disbursements to shift to electronic payments by the end of this month.

The Social Security Administration said the shift will curb lost or stolen payments, speed up processing times and save the government millions of dollars a year.

Have a news tip? Contact Jeff Barker at jebarker@baltsun.com.

The woman behind the desk sighed and ducked her head behind the sign posted on the window while the officer, the back of whose vest read “GILLIS,” proceeded to read from his phone.

“Just for everyone’s knowledge,” Officer Gillis said, “The 2024 Maryland Statute … states that you cannot stop someone from accessing their property.”

The Baltimore Sun reviewed the video Lyles-Myers recorded of the officer’s interaction with Frankford’s staff. The police have since told her it’s a civil issue.

Frankford had towed Lyles-Myers’ 2017 Hyundai Accent when it broke down in the street while she was on her way to her weekend job. Despite state law, despite a visit by Baltimore City Police, despite repeated visits and requests by Lyles-Myers, the towing company continues to deny her the right to inspect her vehicle and retrieve her belongings without paying the tow fee.

“They said it a lot more rudely than that,” she said. “I’m just paraphrasing.”

Frankford Towing Company emailed Lyles-Myers a copy of its policy at her request, which The Sun also reviewed.

“NO VEHICLE IS ACCESSIBLE UNTIL THE BILL ASSOCIATED IS SETTLED,” the document read, printed in all-caps.

By October, she said, Frankford told her she owed more than $2,000 if she wanted to access her belongings.

“I felt like I was getting scammed,” she said. “I felt like I was truly getting played.”

Dick Bonnett and Paula Protani, named as Frankford’s owner and manager per state business documents, could not be reached for comment by publication. But Frankford has made headlines for its business practices before; it was one of several certified towing companies paying the police department a portion of the tow fee in exchange for directing tows their way. The practice led to an audit and a policy change.

Maryland has some of the strongest protections in the U.S. for people who’ve had their vehicles towed — but those laws don’t matter when companies refuse to follow them, said U.S. PIRG Consumer Watchdog Director Teresa Murray, who has studied and evaluated towing laws across the nation since 2020.

“If you have companies that are not obeying the law, then the laws aren’t necessarily worth all that much,” she said.

‘No doubt … it was dangerous’

Lyles-Myers, a full-time social worker, had been on her way to her weekend job as a yacht captain, headed to the Port of Baltimore. Before she could get there, however, her car broke down just past 2771 Clinton St., next to the Maryland Department of Transportation Authority’s police building. The MDTA could not be reached for comment by publication.

The Sun visited the site of the breakdown with Lyles-Myers, matching up photos of her broken-down car she took that day to the surrounding area.

Lyles-Myers pointed to the sign outside the building that proclaimed it a tow-away zone.

“It was in the right of way,” Lyles-Myers said of her car. “There’s no doubt that it was dangerous.”

The day it broke down, she said, she gathered her things, called her mechanic, and asked him to come pick it up, sending him a dropped pin of where she’d left the vehicle. Then, she got in an Uber and headed to work, unable to wait any longer as the departure time crept closer.

About 15 minutes later, her mechanic called her — his tow driver couldn’t find her car.

“I said, ‘What?’” she recalled. “‘It’s a big, bright-red car.’ And he was like, ‘No worries.’”

She didn’t hear from him again on Sunday or on Monday, either, but it was Labor Day and she assumed the shop was closed, she said. But when she called on Tuesday, he told her he didn’t have her car.

Lyles-Myers assumed the worst.

“I thought it had been stolen,” she said.

She called Baltimore City police and asked them to check their database to see if it had been reported towed, which is required by city law. It did not appear in their database, so Lyles-Myers reported it stolen and assumed she had to move on.

According to Kelley Blue Book, a 2017 Hyundai Accent sedan is worth between $5,000 and $8,000, depending on its condition and mileage.

When she arrived at Frankford, however, she wanted to make sure it was her vehicle, get it inspected to see if it was fixable, and retrieve her belongings for safekeeping in the meantime. She’d left behind several work items, including five laptops she intended to give out to clients. But Frankford, she said, refused to allow her access to the car without payment, which is illegal under state law.

Under Maryland State Code governing commercial law, 16A–101, “an authorized tow company shall provide a vehicle owner or operator … with reasonable access to a vehicle … so that the vehicle owner or operator or the owner’s designee may access and collect any personal property or cargo contained in the vehicle, regardless of whether any payment has been made for the authorized tow company’s services.”

Consumer protections

Maryland is a standout for consumer protections from unsavory towing practices, Murray said. A 2022 study Murray compiled for U.S. PIRG showed that Maryland was far and away better on protections than the majority of states.

It sets a maximum towing and storage rate, requires businesses to post tow-away signs and notify drivers when they’ve towed their cars, and allows drivers access to their car and their items without paying the tow fee.

The one part where Maryland failed? Predatory towing, also known as patrol towing.

“Patrol towing is leaving it up to the tow driver themselves to deem any item offending and to tow the car themselves,” said Baltimore City District 3 Councilman Ryan Dorsey.

In 2022, state legislation went into effect, set to combat what was considered excessive towing fees and predatory towing practices. It also required towing companies on police-initiated towing lists to file their maximum rates for police-initiated tows.

Dorsey also introduced a bill in March aimed at ending several trade-specific consumer boards and consolidating everything within a Department of Consumer Protection and Business Licensing – including the Board of Licensing for Towing Services.

The Baltimore City Council voted unanimously to approve the bill.

Still, towing companies often have the upper hand once they’ve towed someone’s car.

Little recourse

Vehicle owners whose cars have been towed often have little recourse other than suing the towing company or filing complaints with the state Attorney General’s office. But the former might take years, and the latter, in the state of Maryland, could result in the office conducting voluntary mediation between the towing company and the customer — but it’s not guaranteed.

Businesses are not obligated to refund anyone because of a complaint.

Maryland Judiciary Case Search shows that Frankford Towing has been involved in 151 lawsuits, as both defendant and plaintiff.

Often, Murray said, customers choose simply to pay the towing fees, even if they think them outrageous, and figure they’ll try to get it back later. But by the time they have their property back, they mentally shrug off the money they spent, figuring it’s a lost cause or will take far too much effort, she said. That emboldens towing companies to do more outlandish things in pursuit of a payday, she said.

Murray cited companies across the U.S. that towed appropriately-parked cars for parking with a single tire touching the white line, having too little air in their tires, or having three bolts securing a license plate holder instead of four.

In more egregious situations, she said, towing companies became truly predatory. She recalled a Michigan towing company that was brought up on federal charges in district court in 2019 for targeting pretty young women drivers. Once they’d towed the car, the drivers would routinely proposition the woman whose car it was, offering to let her “work it out” another way, rather than pay the towing and storage fee.

In Lyles-Myers’ case, she hasn’t been allowed access to her belongings or to inspect the vehicle. That can be its own set of issues, Murray said, as people have lost access to identification, medications, or needed equipment like child car seats when they’re prohibited from accessing their belongings without paying the associated fees.

Insurmountable odds?

“I’m frustrated,” Lyles-Myers said. Tired of walking into Frankford alone and being denied access to her vehicle, she has begged the MDTA Police for help.

She said they refused to help her retrieve her belongings, instead telling her to file a complaint through the Office of the Attorney General.

She intends to, but she said she’s working a full-time job, and her commute from Hyattsville to Baltimore has now turned into two hours each way on the train. She’s exhausted, she’s fed up, and at times, she’s considered simply abandoning her vehicle.

While the MDTA provided her with a copy of the release paperwork she needs to recoup her car, she’s still facing a huge bill for a car that may require significant repair. She’s still having her right to collect her belongings denied.

“When I consider going back to Frankford,” she said, “I get these knots in my stomach.”

Even with the law on her side, she worries that while they hold her vehicle, they hold all the cards.

Have you had similar problems with a towing company, or experienced predatory towing? Share your story with us. Contact journalist Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

Three cadets who were enrolled at the camp in the past ten years told The Sun they were forced to exercise without water breaks until passing out or vomiting, sometimes requiring airlifts from the camp. One suffered a concussion after being attacked by cadets, and they witnessed cadet “fight clubs” organized by the staff.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, is talking with the Maryland National Guard about the conditions at the camp and the concerns the teens raised, his spokesperson said.

“Van Hollen believes that the Freestate Challenge Academy must uphold a high standard of academic rigor and ensure the physical safety and mental well-being of its cadets. Anything less is not acceptable,” his spokesperson said in a statement emailed to The Sun.

Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said he is aware of the allegations, but is yet to call for an investigation into the camp.

“Governor Moore knows Maryland’s National Guard and Military Department regard these allegations with the utmost seriousness and [will] take concrete steps to hold any substantiated accounts of misconduct accountable,” said Senior Communication Strategist Rhyan Lake in an email statement to The Sun. “The governor and Maryland’s Military Department always have been and always will be committed to ensuring all cadets are provided a safe, supportive, and professional environment that promotes their health, safety, and well-being.”

Lake referred The Sun to the Maryland Military Department when asked if Moore was investigating or planned to initiate an investigation into the allegations raised by former cadets.

The Sun called and emailed the Maryland Military Department to learn what the department is doing to investigate the claims teens made, as well as the substance of the department’s conversations with Van Hollen. A spokesperson did not respond by the time of publication.

Del. Lauren Arikan, a Republican whose Harford County district includes the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, called for transparency from the academy’s director, and urged public schools in her district to refrain from referring teens in their care to the camp until the concerns are addressed.

“I am very keen to hear a clear explanation from Director Kisha L. Webster as to whether there is currently a federal law enforcement investigation going on in regards to the accusations of assaults and abuse at Freestate ChalleNGe Academy,” Arikan said to The Sun in an email.

“The accusations are extremely serious, occurred on base, and could constitute grounds for criminal charges,” she said. “Until this matter is sufficiently resolved, [Harford County Public Schools] should refrain from recommending Freestate ChalleNGe Academy to any of its students.”

Scared to sleep at night, sleeping through class

A free program for at-risk youth, Freestate promises teens and their families housing and food for 22 weeks, along with the opportunity to study and take the GED. To apply to the program, teens must have dropped out of high school or be in danger of dropping or failing out. Once accepted, attendees must drop out of high school to attend.

The teens told The Sun the education aspect was lacking, and that few of their classmates went on to get their GEDs. They added that they suffered beatings at the hands of other cadets.

“People were actually making weapons in there because they were scared of some of the other kids in there,” one teen who attended the camp in 2022 told The Sun. The Sun is withholding his name as he still fears for his safety.

“There were a lot of kids in there claiming they were gang members,” he said, and some cadets made shivs out of metal forks and hid them under the floorboards.

The teen said he and others routinely fell asleep in GED prep classes because they would stay up all night, afraid of the other cadets in the program attacking them while they slept. He ultimately failed his GED test, he said, attributing it to the exhaustion he felt during class and the lack of a science instructor that year. He still has not earned his GED, he said.

An atmosphere of violence

Another teen The Sun interviewed about his experience at Freestate. Nathanael Royal said after just a few weeks in the program, he was awoken at 3 a.m. one night and beaten with a homemade blackjack by other teens at the camp while the staff who stood watch overnight changed shift.

Royal said he woke up to four or five teens, wearing black t-shirts tied over their faces. One held him down on his bed while others punched and slammed him in the head with a “lock sock” or “rock sock,” which he defined as a padlock or large rock inside a sock. He said they threatened him with further harm if he snitched.

Royal’s mother brought him to the emergency room the next morning after the camp nurse examined him and, alarmed, called her. He had a dent in his head and was diagnosed with a possible concussion and contusion and referred to a brain injury center in Virginia, according to his medical records, which The Sun reviewed. His parents disenrolled him from camp, but were unable to re-enroll him in public school due to his age, they said.

Royal spent the next year afraid to sleep at night, he said, and lay awake until the sun came up, he said.

Freestate temporarily closed in early September due to facility issues, including leaking condenser lines and a broken sewer pipe, Maryland Military Department Public Affairs Manager Chazz Kibbler said. The camp was temporarily relocated to Camp Frettard Military Reservation in Reisterstown, but the new facility was not up to federal installation requirements, he said.

Class 65 was given the option to continue in other ChalleNGe academies or withdraw, according to Kibbler. Ten transferred to Washington-based Capital Guardians ChalleNGe Academy and four to New Jersey’s ChalleNGe Academy. Others pursued GED testing directly with support from Freestate staff, Kibbler said.

The state plans to reopen the camp in January for the next class, Class 66.

Did you attend or work at Freestate? What was your experience there? Contact journalist Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

One said he was attacked, beaten with a homemade blackjack while he slept.

One said he developed post-traumatic stress disorder.

These teens who enrolled at the Maryland National Guard Freestate ChalleNGe Academy in previous years have a lot to say about their experience as cadets in the program — not much of it good.

A boot camp for at-risk youth, the program promises teens and their families a strict structure, housing and food for 22 weeks, along with the opportunity to study and take the GED — a potentially life-changing offer for many of these youth.

But three cadets interviewed by The Baltimore Sun say they were forced to exercise without water breaks until they passed out or vomited, and that it wasn’t unusual for teens to be airlifted from the camp at the Aberdeen Proving Ground by helicopter. Sergeants on staff, they say, made them exercise in dangerous conditions.

They said camp staff organized fight clubs where they encouraged or allowed teens to fight one another after hours, and that many teens in the program never earned their GEDs — a major component of Freestate, and one that is vital given that teens must drop out of school to enroll.

Some are too old to be readmitted to public school if they drop out or don’t complete their GED at Freestate, as Nathanael Royal, the cadet who says he was beaten by other teens in the program, discovered.

The cadets told The Sun they feared the other teens in the program, some of whom claimed to have gang ties and were at times violent. In addition to the homemade blackjacks and nocturnal attacks that took place during the 30-minute window in which the guard changed shift, Royal and one of the other cadets, The Sun interviewed — two of whom asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation by former cadets — recalled regular fights that erupted in the stairwell as teens passed one another. Those fights, they said, staff watched silently without interference.

Some cadets made shivs out of the metal forks they ate with and hid them under the floorboards, Royal and another cadet from his year said. At a certain point, the cadet said, the staff stopped allowing them access to the forks.

While some thrive in the ChalleNGe Academy setting, Royal and other cadets said the experience was anything other than positive.

Royal told The Sun he was awoken in the middle of the night and attacked by other cadets wearing black T-shirts tied around their faces, beaten in the head with a homemade blackjack, and that staff were aware of this pattern of attacks. He and his family say they reached out to the camp after the attack, and when the staff dismissed their concerns, his parents disenrolled him from the program.

“We are aware of concerns raised about incidents at the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy,” Maryland Military Department Public Affairs Manager Chazz Kibbler said in an emailed statement. “We take any allegation of misconduct or unsafe conditions seriously. In cases where investigations substantiated misconduct, appropriate actions were taken to address the matter.”

Kibbler declined to say what their investigations found and what changes were implemented afterward, instead directing The Sun to file a Maryland Public Information Act request.

“FCA remains a life-changing program for youth across Maryland, which is why it has strong support from former cadets, families and communities,” Kibbler said.

A chance at a GED

Royal entered Freestate with hopes of earning his GED.

After years of struggling with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, unable to focus in class and being passed on despite failing grades, by high school Royal didn’t understand much of the material. Rather than admit it, he avoided the pain point — school.

Although his teachers liked him, mother Shayna Royal said, he earned three of the eight credits he was supposed to earn in his freshman year. As a sophomore, he earned zero credits and regularly slept in or locked his bedroom door to avoid his mother taking him to school, father Jason Royal said.

When he did go, Jason said, his son spent his time roaming the halls or hiding in the bathroom rather than sitting in class.

“I couldn’t focus on the work,” Royal said. “I didn’t want to be there.”

The high school, Bel Air’s C. Milton Wright High, called a meeting with the Royal family at the end of his sophomore year, Shayna said. That day, a vice principal suggested they look into an alternative schooling placement and presented them with several brochures.

Together, Royal and his parents chose the state’s ChalleNGe Academy, a tuition-free program Congress founded in 1993. The program allows 16- to 18-year-olds to study for and earn their GED, as well as vocational training certificates and set up a recruiting pipeline for the National Guard and other military branches. Freestate is one of the 10 original ChalleNGe Academies founded.

The fact that he could earn his GED in a year was appealing, Royal said, and it seemed like a better choice than the alternative school the vice principal suggested.

ChalleNGe academies largely target troubled or at-risk youths. Program requirements state that applicants must be at least 15½ years old, be at risk of dropping out of high school or have already dropped out, and may not be on probation or parole. In order to attend, they must drop out of school.

But Royal did not earn his GED there, as he disenrolled early after the attack, he said. Another cadet The Sun interviewed said he didn’t earn his either, nor did many cadets in his year, calling the education aspect lacking.

Former director Keith Dickerson, who ran the camp at the time Royal was enrolled and stepped down in April 2024, disputed the characterization of the program.

“ChalleNGe is not a GED program,” he said in an email to The Sun. “ChalleNGe is founded on eight core components that program participants must successfully complete to be a ChalleNGe graduate. Yes, taking the GED test is part of the program, but that is an added bonus,” he said.

“The program doesn’t award the credential; it is earned,” he said.

The ‘troubled teen industry’

Research shows the ChalleNGe Academy setting can be a beneficial experience for many. The program promises parents and teens discipline and a set environment, and it is free to attend. For many, it can help them turn their lives around, get them away from bad influences or break bad habits and set them on a path to success.

Indeed, a 2009 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation survey of ChalleNGe Academy cadets who completed the program and a control group showed that cadets were more likely to obtain a high school diploma or GED, be working and attending college, and have better health and higher levels of self-efficacy than the control group. They were also less likely to have been arrested.

Still, the program bears significant resemblance to programs in the “troubled teen industry,” wilderness or re-education camps parents can enroll their children in that begin with said child being kidnapped in the middle of the night from their bed by strangers and subjected to extreme conditions and requirements for weeks or months on end.

Programs such as wilderness therapy and boot camps for at-risk or troubled youth can be traced back to the 1958 cult Synanon, a drug addiction rehabilitation center that used attack therapy, isolation, limited freedom and rewards for compliance in said teens, according to an oral history of the “troubled teen industry” by a University of New Hampshire researcher. Hallmarks of such programs often incorporate some of these methods, such as isolation, exhaustion through physical exertion and rigid rules, which Royal and other cadets said they endured at Freestate.

‘Serious facility issues’ shut the camp down temporarily

The Sun requested information on how many cadets had earned their GEDs through the program in the past five years, organized by class, as there are two classes a year. The full information has not yet been provided; however, Kibbler told The Sun that during Class 64, the last class to go through the program, 38 of 56 cadets earned their GEDs.

It is not clear if the 18 cadets who did not earn a GED took the test or dropped out.

Maj. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, the state’s adjutant general who oversees the National Guard and its programs, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

Calls to program leadership were not answered or returned, and Director Kisha L. Webster did not return calls or emails. Through Kibbler, she declined an interview.

Freestate temporarily closed in early September due to what Kibbler called “serious facility issues,” including leaking condenser lines and a broken sewer pipe.

“In response, FCA shifted operations to a temporary location at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation in Reisterstown, anticipating only a short stay,” Kibbler said. “After further evaluation, however, it became clear the new facility could not be brought up to federal installation requirements and was not a permanent solution.”

Class 65 was given the option to continue in other ChalleNGe academies or withdraw. Ten transferred to Washington-based Capital Guardians ChalleNGe Academy and four to New Jersey’s ChalleNGe Academy. Others pursued GED testing directly with support from Freestate staff, Kibbler said.

The state plans to reopen the camp in January for the next class, Class 66.

Did you or someone you know participate in Freestate? What was your or their experience? Contact Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

At the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy, an Aberdeen Proving Ground boot camp and GED program for at-risk Maryland youth run by the National Guard, Royal thought he’d be getting a second chance after failing ninth and tenth grade. He had withdrawn from public school to attend the program, a requirement.

But within a few weeks, Royal wanted out.

Royal told his parents in his one weekly allowed 10-minute phone call that other cadets were hitting teens with “rock socks” and “lock socks,” a type of homemade blackjack. He was scared and didn’t feel safe.

He asked them to pick him up, but they refused.

“We honestly didn’t believe him because the sergeants, when we first went, told us that the kids would say anything to come home and to not believe them,” mother Shayna Royal said. “So we didn’t.”

The following week, around 3 a.m. on Aug. 16, Royal said he woke up to four or five teens, wearing black t-shirts tied over their faces, holding him down on his bed while others punched and slammed him in the head,  threatening him with further harm if he snitched.

The next morning, around 5 a.m., Royal, afraid to be honest with program staff, told a sergeant he’d been stung by a bee.

The sergeant took Royal to the nurse, who called his mother, Shayna Royal. Shayna picked him up that morning and drove him to the E.R., where doctors diagnosed him with a contusion, a possible concussion and recommended a follow-up with a brain injury association in Virginia, according to medical records The Sun reviewed.

But Royal didn’t feel lucky.

Although things have been getting better over the past year, he can’t shake what’s happened to him — and his parents want to make sure this doesn’t happen to another teen.

‘Aware of concerns’

Gov. Wes Moore’s office declined to comment on Royal’s experience at the camp, directing The Baltimore Sun to the National Guard.

The Maryland Military Department declined multiple requests for interviews with the program director and the state’s adjutant general; however, Public Affairs Manager Chazz Kibbler provided a statement.

“The Maryland Military Department’s top priority has always been, and will remain, the health, safety, and well-being of the cadets entrusted to our care at the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy,” Kibbler said.

“We are aware of concerns raised about incidents at the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy,” Kibbler said. “We take any allegation of misconduct or unsafe conditions seriously. In cases where investigations substantiated misconduct, appropriate actions were taken to address the matter.”

Royal says he can’t remember much of the attack, and doesn’t remember a lot of what happened at the hospital.What he does remember is the sleepless nights he endured for months after — night after night where he lay awake, terrified. He couldn’t fall asleep until the sun came up.

The concussion symptoms were severe, too, but he didn’t want to seek follow-up treatment. Instead, his mother said, he stayed in bed or shut himself in his room for most of the following year.

“Everything in my mind was in a different place,” Royal said. But, he said, “I like to deal with things on my own.”

Royal’s family said they reached out to Freestate, pursuing accountability but said Freestate swept the attack under the rug. The staff implied they didn’t believe Royal had been assaulted in conversations after the event, and the program didn’t cover the cost of Royal’s E.R. bill, the family said.

Now, Royal is 19 years old, and still struggling.

“He’s not who he was before,” Shayna said. “I just want them shut down.”

‘BEWARE! BEWARE!’

In the aftermath of the attack, Royal’s father, Jason Royal, said he reached out to Freestate leadership seeking justice for his son, but found then-director Keith Dickerson’s responses unhelpful.

“He kept saying ‘your son was allegedly assaulted,’” Jason said. “‘Allegedly.’ ‘We don’t even know if that’s true or not,’ and ‘we don’t have cameras in the room so we can’t see what happened.’ He pretty much was just brushing the whole thing off.”

Dickerson, who stepped down from Freestate in April 2024, said Royal had called and written his parents daily, “begging them to disenroll [him] from the program…”Based on the initial story we were told [regarding Royal’s injury] and the story told at the hospital, naturally, there was some doubt that arose; particularly because the youth had been trying to get out of the program since it started.”

Dickerson said in an email he expected to hear from the Royal family after the hospital visit, but that he and his staff “never heard from the family again.”

Frustrated, Jason posted to Google Reviews, leaving a one-star review of Freestate. He recounted his family’s experience with the program and included photos of Royal’s head after the attack, swelling clearly visible through his bootcamp buzzcut and wrapping around his forehead.

In the photos posted, taken the morning after the attack, Royal looks away from the camera, his hand curled in front of his mouth, and little expression on his face. A visible dent can be seen at the back of his skull and about half his skull, including his forehead, is heavy and swollen.

“BEWARE! BEWARE!” Jason wrote. “Do not send your kids to Freestate ChalleNGe Academy. The kids’ safety is not the number one priority. Many kids are being assaulted, hit with locks in socks and the sergeants are doing nothing about it. … Last night my son was assaulted by 2 other cadets and has a dent in his head and a lot of swelling and a concussion. … My son is in fear of his life being there and has no trust in the staff. This happened while staff [were] there. The director will give the run-around and will not admit any wrongdoings that are going on under his watch. Please parents spread the word and do not allow your child to become a victim.”

Dickerson told Royal’s parents to bring him back to the camp, Shayna said. Instead, they removed him from the program and reached out to Bel Air’s public school district, hoping to re-enroll him as a high school freshman. The district, however, refused to take him back, Shayna said. He was already 17, and wouldn’t graduate until he was 21.

They reached out to a military lawyer, Shayna said, but didn’t know what steps to take next.

‘Blowing smoke’

Royal blames his parents for the attack he suffered at Freestate, and everything that followed. The sleepless nights, the inability to think, and the fear he couldn’t let go of.

“They didn’t believe me,” Royal said, referencing his telephone call home. “It was their fault. I stand on that.”

Before the attack, he had been set to graduate with his GED a year earlier than his peers. After, he was frozen, he said.

It took him another year before he could even start to work on his GED again, and he didn’t get his diploma until December 2024, a full year after he would have graduated high school. He now works the overnight online order shift at the local Target.

The blame hurts Shayna, who picked him up from the camp, who met with every district administrator she could to try and get him back into public school. She is still upset that she didn’t bring him home when he first called them, but thought she was doing the right thing, she said.

Jason, however, is less bothered by the blame. He developed PTSD after an active duty tour in the Army in Iraq in the early 2000s, and said he sometimes struggles with empathy for others. But he’s frustrated at the lack of response from Freestate and program accountability after what was done to his son.

“They preach how it’s supposed to be very safe,” he said. “They were just blowing smoke.”

This article is the first in a two-part story on conditions at Freestate. Did you or someone you know enroll at Freestate? What was your or their experience? Contact Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.

The state’s volunteer board keeps adding more and more guns to the list of what Marylanders can buy and sell legally within the state’s borders, about a hundred at a time.

1. What is the Handgun Roster Board?

The Maryland Handgun Roster Board determines whether a handgun meets the state’s requirements for sale. Petitioners must file requests with the board to sell or purchase a new handgun or updated model within Maryland.

Members, who are appointed by the governor to four-year terms, must weigh nine factors when considering a handgun, including detectability by a metal detector, usage for sport activity or protection, accuracy, weight, quality of materials and manufacturing, “reliability as to safety,” caliber and concealability.

If approved, a gun is added to the state’s “roster,” a list of guns that can legally be bought or sold within Maryland.

Members vote on dozens of handguns per meeting — often more than 100 — for inclusion on the state roster at each meeting. They meet between four and six times a year.

The Maryland State Police test new handguns put before the board, though new models of the same gun are not subject to similar tests. The police usually present an oral and written report covering the gun size, weight, performance during firing tests, and more.

2. A ‘rubber stamp’

The Baltimore Sun data analysis showed that since 2018, the Maryland Handgun Roster board has approved thousands of petitions, allowing new handguns or handgun models to be sold in the state as long as they function. Between 2018 and 2024, unless a gun did not fire — or a petitioner incorrectly filed their petition — the board passed it through, in what critics called a “rubber stamp,” approving 95% of handguns put before them during those seven years.

That meant the board added nearly 2,500 new handgun models to the state’s roster.

3. No way to remove defective guns from the roster

During that time, the board approved multiple versions of the SIG P320, a 9mm handgun that has been the subject of dozens of lawsuits that allege the gun fires without a trigger pull.

A 2023 investigation by The Trace found more than 80 people who said the pistol had wounded them — and that they never touched the trigger.

The New Hampshire-based gunmaker denies the claims, saying the pistol is safe and the problem is user error. It has prevailed in some cases.

Board members told The Sun that no one provided them with information about the lawsuits before the gun came before the board in March. Additionally, there is no way for the board to reconsider a handgun that is on the approved list, even if problems are discovered later.

4. Is it a handgun or a short-barreled rifle? In Maryland, it’s both

Over the past several years, more and more residents have come before the Maryland Handgun Roster Board asking them to approve short-barreled rifles, guns that can measure two feet in length.

While Maryland defines short-barreled rifles as handguns, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms says handguns or pistols are “originally designed, made, and intended to fire a projectile (bullet) from one or more barrels when held in one hand.”

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, one of the board members appointed by Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, spoke out at last week’s board meeting. Bates voted ‘no’ on what he considered short-barreled rifles and called for the legislature to reconsider and rewrite the state’s definition of handguns to exclude these “more forceful,” damaging weapons.

“We have to make sure we acknowledge the seriousness of these weapons,” Bates told The Sun.

Board member Michael Errico, who was appointed by Gov. Bob Ehrlich, a Republican, agreed with Bates when The Sun interviewed him in September.

“Those weapons only started coming to the board in great numbers recently,” Errico told The Sun.  “Maryland’s definition needs to be consistent with the federal definition.”

5. ‘Ban the object’

Second Amendment advocates argue that the gun board’s recent history of denying short-barreled rifles to petitioners is illegal and an assault on the U.S. Constitution, as state law expressly allows the purchase of these guns as handguns.

“Instead of banning the criminals, they want to ban the object thinking, well, this will deter them,” John Josselyn, president and founder of 2A Maryland, an advocacy group for gun rights, told The Sun.

But, he said, it won’t.

Josselyn said he believed access to housing, employment opportunities and education, focusing on moral integrity, were a better path forward and would lead to decreased crime while preserving Marylanders’ access to guns.

Contact journalist Kate Cimini at 443-842-2621 or kcimini@baltsun.com.