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Monday, March 05, 2012

Maryland Handgun Permit Law Found Unconstitutional

A federal judge has ruled that Maryland’s handgun permit law is unconstitutional.

In an opinion filed Monday, U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg says a requirement that residents show a “good and substantial reason” to carry a handgun infringes their Second Amendment right to bear arms. He says it isn’t sufficiently tailored to the state’s public safety interests.

Plaintiff Raymond Woollard was denied a renewal of his permit in 2009 because he could not show he had been subject to “threats occurring beyond his residence.” Woollard obtained the permit after fighting with an intruder in his Hampstead home in 2002.

The lawsuit, which names the state police superintendent and members of the Handgun Permit Review Board, was also filed on behalf of the Bellevue, Wash.-based Second Amendment Foundation.


New Posts to fall below.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's great! Now maybe we can get a common sense carry permit law in Maryland. Delaware's has been working pretty good from what I hear.

Anonymous said...

HATS OFF TO JUDGE LEGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Better start coping extra form boys, lets sign'em up!

Anonymous said...

The NAZI State Police State.... You'll never get it changed, even with court orders...

In other states, back ground check, $50 dollars and good for five years. Then you can purchase firearms with it, with NO wait.

Lets make laws that work against law abiding citizens,

Anonymous said...

Yea I want to be excited about this but with O'Malley it seems very unlikely that a federal ruling would make him give a crap.

Anonymous said...

Finally a win for freedom and the constitution...Adults are still responsible for their actions. We really need handgun permits here in Salisbury based on our crime rate. I got one from Maryland and Utah so I can leagally carry in about 37 states. Peace of mind for me and my family. Let's see if the dems have balls enough to put it to a referendum like we are going to do with the gay marriage thing

Anonymous said...

I'm Still moving to Delware as soon as I can.

Anonymous said...

So correct me if I'm wrong. But with the supreme court ruling we could flood MSP with permits to carry and if they deny it there's already court action to overturn their denial. And if they challenge it all of those who applied and were denied band together and follow Mr. Woollards road that he just paved.

Anonymous said...

If the law has been declared unconstitutional, then there is no law. This means all non-felons are not breaking the law if they carry

Anonymous said...

The ride's not over, I'm sure MD will appeal it on up.

Anonymous said...

Joe, please elaborate on this one, before you have half of Salisbury's gun owners lock up for carrying firearms. I personally have a carry permit in MD, but Maryland is a "may issue" State meaning that you have to apply with reasonable justification to obtain a carry permit.

The federal court just declared the means and justifications to obtain a carry permit as unconstitutional, not the fact that a person must have a permit to carry a firearm. Under Maryland law, you must have a permit in order to carry a firearm. Folks can't just go out today packing heat because of this federal ruling. The federal courts are basically stating that Maryland can't deny citizens based on lack of a "good reason."

In addition, I am 100% "gun" ho (pun intended) for increased gun rights in Maryland; HOWEVER, I certainly do not mind going through the permitting process if it is reasonably executed and fair the LAW ABIDING citizens. If Maryland was an open carry State like say Virginia, then anybody could walk around with a firearm strapped to their hip. Sounds cool at the surface, but do you REALLY want some of this State's idiots (law abiding or not) to be packing heat just because they can? Think about the stupidest, most irresponsible yet law abiding person that you know... do you really want them to have a gun on them at any given time?? There has to be a process of permitting to know who is carrying and who is not carrying. Even if it is a short and easy permitting process, it will at least keep the firearms off the hips of those spontaneous "I want to carry a gun just because I can" people. Like I said, I can legally carry, but I don't 90% of the time.

Anonymous said...

Oh just more of those activist judges, that is until they support something you like. lol.

I'm all for freedom to carry. But just needed to highlight some of the partisan bs.

lmclain said...

I can't wait for the "Freedom of Religion Review Board", or the "Right to Assemble Review Board". Here's some news --- MILLIONS of Americans carry handguns all the time. Some legal, some not. Many of us don't think we need to ASK someone's PERMISSION to exercise the Second Amendment. So we don't. And for all you "what if everyone was carrying a gun?" speculators, a LOT of people already do, so where is the mayhem and chaos you claim would happen? It ain't happenin'. There goes THAT line of reasoning.

Anonymous said...

To bad Democrats don't believe in the constitution.

Anonymous said...

What's a constitution?

Anonymous said...

Isn't it strange that the govorner can bragg about being the 6th state to allow gays to marry, yet while 27 other states have right to carry laws, Maryland does not? O'Malley is an Obama clone and they are just anti gun. I would like to know more about the possibility of getting a carry permit.

Queensgirl52 said...

How in God's name many guns do you people need? Are you planning to start a war? And, consider this: Last month, a little boy in Delmar brought a handgun to school in his backpack. The child certainly didn't own the bloody gun; some adult made it accessible to him. Why isn't that adult being prosecuted for child endangerment? Adults can be prosecuted for smoking with children in the car, but leaving guns around is OK. This is insane!

Anonymous said...

If I carry a gun for my and my family's protection along with a copy of The Constitution and the 2nd Amendment, why should it not be legal in any State?

Anonymous said...

4:46 38 states "shall issue"
3 states easy "may issue"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concealed_carry_in_the_United_States

Anonymous said...

If O'Malley has his way, MD will be the 52 state where it is legal to carry. To answer queensgirl's question, I only want to be able to carry one (1) gun, what's wrong with that. The problem is that liberals think even one gun is to many.

Anonymous said...

Queensgirl52 I'd like to answer your question. In my household...I carry a handgun. My wife carries one as well. I keep one in my truck, one in my living room, one in my bedroom. In fact, there isn't a room in my house that doesn't give my family members access to a firearm. We have rifles, shotguns, and pistols. We have enough sense to know that a prepared household is a safe household. We also recognize the fact that the second amendment allows us to has as many firearms as we want regardless of what you think.

Pw8697 said...

My posting to this story on WBOC's website. Hopefully if the "good and substantial reason" mentality goes away and we are allowed to carry concealed, one point that needs to be made is when a weapon is concealed, it is concealed. You wear it so no one can see it, so no one knows about it and you KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT TOO. Years ago I was at a candidate meet and greet. An old guy was there and bragging that he was "packin' heat." That old man is a fool. Open carry is kind of dumb but better than nothing, but I can see some of the concerns the folks in the article have. I want to even the odds. Criminals have guns and so it puts us law abiding folks at an instant disadvantage. I have over 20 years in the military, very knowledgeable about weapons and am willing to submit to a background check and even a state mandated training class. We have the right to live and we must be able to protect that, and keep criminals guessing.

Anonymous said...

Just let me know when I can march into the state police barrack and sign up for a CCW. I do also think it is funny that Gays can marry in MD but a law abiding citizen can not obtain a CCW without jumping throught hoops. I so hope this goes farther and we can get permits with less crap to go through!