- A 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday struck down Maryland’s handgun licensing law in a 2-1 decision.
- The law, whose requirements include submitting a fingerprint and completing a four-hour firearms safety course, was deemed unconstitutional.
- “The challenged statute restricts the ability of law-abiding adult citizens to possess handguns,” the court’s opinion read, “and the state has not presented a historical analogue justifying the restriction this.”
A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down Maryland’s handgun licensing law, finding that its requirements, which include submitting fingerprints for a background check and taking a four-hour firearms safety course, is unconstitutional.
In a 2-1 decision, judges at the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond said they considered the case in light of a US Supreme Court decision last year that “effected a sea change in Second Amendment law.”
The underlying lawsuit was filed in 2016 as a challenge to a Maryland law requiring people to obtain a special license before purchasing a handgun. The law, passed in 2013 after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, laid out a series of required steps for prospective gun buyers: completing four hours of safety training that includes firing a live that round, submitting fingerprints. and passing a background check, being 21 and residing in Maryland.
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Maryland Gov. said. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said he was disappointed by the circuit court’s decision and “will continue to fight for this legislation.” He said his administration is reviewing the decision and considering its options.
“Common-sense gun laws are critical to protecting all Marylanders from the gun violence that terrorizes our communities.” Moore said in a statement Tuesday. “I’m determined to do more than offer thoughts and prayers and attend funerals — and that’s why this legislation is essential to our administration’s commitment to keeping guns out of the wrong hands and saving lives.”
The 4th Circuit opinion by Judge Julius Richardson directly refers to the Supreme Court’s decision last year that found Americans have the right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. That decision, which also came after a series of mass shootings, prompted a major expansion of gun rights.
It also requires gun laws to conform to the nation’s “historical tradition of firearm regulation.” In this case, Richardson and Judge G. Steven Agee found no evidence of such alignment.
“If you live in Maryland and want a handgun, you must follow a long and winding path to obtain one,” Richardson wrote in the opinion. “The challenged statute restricts the ability of law-abiding adult citizens to possess handguns, and the state has not presented a historical analogue justifying its restriction.”
The court also outlined the timeline for obtaining a handgun qualification license, which could take up to 30 days.
Appeals court strikes down Maryland’s handgun licensing law.
Although Maryland’s law does not prohibit people from “owning handguns at some point in the future, it still prohibits them from owning handguns now,” Richardson wrote. “And the statutory waiting period may be the critical time in which the applicant is expected to face the risk.”
But in her dissenting opinion, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan said her colleagues erred in applying Supreme Court precedent. He condemned their “hyperaggressive view of the Second Amendment.”
Instead of overturning a district court ruling issued before the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision, Keenan argued, the case should instead be sent back to the lower court for reconsideration because “there is no legitimate reason to short -circuit the judicial process.”
Agee and Richardson were appointed by Republican presidents, while Keenan was appointed by a Democrat.
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The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision — its first major gun ruling in more than a decade — was also split, with the court’s conservatives in the majority and liberals dissenting.
Mark Pennak, president of the advocacy group Maryland Shall Issue, which brought the lawsuit challenging the state’s licensing requirement, said he was pleased with Tuesday’s ruling. He said it eliminates the unnecessary tangle of red tape.
“This is a big win for common sense and the rule of law,” he said.
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Pennak said the 2013 law made obtaining a handgun an extremely expensive and difficult process. Before that law passed, he said, people would have to complete a more limited training and pass a background check, among other requirements.
