A win for handgun owners in Maryland

[stansdds]

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Maryland's requirement for specific training and licensing to own a handgun. I'm sure this will be appealed, but it is movement in the correct direction.

Gun owners win big in Maryland handgun case in federal court

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

As a former subject of the People’s Republik of Marylandstan…this was a yuge win! Time will tell whether it’s a permanent victory but it’s earth shaking in the short term.

Maryland gun owners are said to suffer from BGOS…”Battered Gun Owners Syndrome”. This gives real hope that there is light at the end of the long, dark tunnel Maryland lawmakers constructed.

 

[robertrwalsh]

Now the real question is if the legislature will throw yet another clearly unconstitutional roadblock up, just to show they can do it.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

Now the real question is if the legislature will throw yet another clearly unconstitutional roadblock up, just to show they can do it.

That wouldn't be surprising. The anti-gun people are playing the long game...tie it all up in court after court waiting for either the pro-freedom crowd to run out of money or for the makeup of the courts up to and including the Supreme Court to change to a more Leftist and authoritarian majority.

The Leftist and anti-gun people play for blood...and they don't care how much gets spilled to reach their goals.

 

[DeplorabusUnum]

It's nice to learn that there are still judges that understand the meaning of "shall not be infringed". We need a few more of those out here in Oregon.

 

[Echo40]

I really have to wonder just whose side those are on who one-star threads like this...

 

[ladder13]

I really have to wonder just whose side those are on who one-star threads like this...

It’s 3 now.

 

[bushmaster1313]

The 4th Circuit’s decision:
https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/212017.P.pdf

 

[woodsltc]

It’s 3 now.

I tried to up it to 4 ...... guess we need some more folks to help.

Don

 

[LVSteve]

I really have to wonder just whose side those are on who one-star threads like this...

Maybe it's more about knowing there is a long way to go in the process.

 

[johngalt]

MD is saying they will enforce the law anyway. Doesn't this make them eligible for prosecution under 18 USC 242 for denial of civil rights under color of law?

 

[bushmaster1313]

MD is saying they will enforce the law anyway. Doesn't this make them eligible for prosecution under 18 USC 242 for denial of civil rights under color of law?

I saw that the State is waiting for the Mandate to issue from the 4th Circuit. This may be a lawful way of proceeding, because in the words of Yogi Berra: “It’s not over till it’s over.”

In other words, the State of Maryland can still ask for reconsideration, reconsideration by the entire 4th Circuit, and or for the Supreme Court to take an appeal combined with a motion to stay the mandate. My understanding is that until these avenues are exhausted and the 4th Circuit issues its Mandate, the statute remains enforceable.

 

[Bugkiller99]

For those of you who think the Bruen decision will be instantly enforced across the land, remember how long Brown V Board of Education took to be implemented. The case was decided in 1954. Enforcement took many, many, many years.

 

[CH4]

I saw that the State is waiting for the Mandate to issue from the 4th Circuit. This may be a lawful way of proceeding, because in the words of Yogi Berra: “It’s not over till it’s over.”

In other words, the State of Maryland can still ask for reconsideration, reconsideration by the entire 4th Circuit, and or for the Supreme Court to take an appeal combined with a motion to stay the mandate. My understanding is that until these avenues are exhausted and the 4th Circuit issues its Mandate, the statute remains enforceable.

And the state did appeal to the 4th circuit and lost. The 4th overturned the law, upholding the lower court's ruling. If Maryland chooses, they can request the 4th hear this en banc or appeal to SCOTUS, but for now the law is dead.

NRA-ILA | Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License Requirement in NRA-Backed Case.

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

 

[Sgt. Buzzard]

MD is saying they will enforce the law anyway. Doesn't this make them eligible for prosecution under 18 USC 242 for denial of civil rights under color of law?

News article I read says the MD State Police have orders to keep enforcing the law. Be careful out there.

 

[Magnum_PI]

This is a step in the right direction.

Don't expect for the Empire to give up easily though...

I am happy to see the courts seem to finally be turning the tide, a piece at a time.

 

[Brian Parrish]

Maryland Shall Issue

I think there are three other lawsuits they are pursuing. One of them is Novotny v. Moore which involves the attempt to turn every square inch into a sensitive space. MSI says,

" It does so by banning firearms in a whole host of locations otherwise open to the public, including places like stores and shops, restaurants, museums, and healthcare facilities. The suit also challenges the general ban on possession of firearms on public transit owned or controlled by the State Mass Transit Administration and in the tens of thousands of acres of woodlands in State parks, State forests, and State Chesapeake forest lands. We have every confidence that we will prevail in whole or in part in this suit.

 

[Beemerguy53]

Just to clear about this court decision and what it affects...

Maryland has had a panoply of gun restrictions on the books for years.

We have a mandatory seven-day waiting period and Maryland State Police (MSP) background check for all handgun purchases and purchasers. (Even active-duty LEOs.)

We have a Handgun Roster Board that decides which guns can be sold here.

We have a one-gun-per-month limit unless you are a designated collector.

We have a ten-round magazine capacity limit.

Private handgun sales must go through an FFL or the MSP, and the seven-day waiting period applies.

So-called "assault weapons" are banned.

On top of all this, back in 2013, the General Assembly decided to license the right to buy a handgun. Anyone wishing to purchase a handgun must obtain a Handgun Qualification License (HQL), which requires that applicants undergo professional training, be fingerprinted, and pay a fee to the state for their licenses. Once you jump through those hoops, the HQL is good for ten years. It is that part of Maryland's gun law that was invalidated; everything else remains in effect.

My dancing shoes are still packed away.

 

[DeplorabusUnum]

Just to clear about this court decision and what it affects...

Maryland has had a panoply of gun restrictions on the books for years.

We have a mandatory seven-day waiting period and Maryland State Police (MSP) background check for all handgun purchases and purchasers. (Even active-duty LEOs.)

We have a Handgun Roster Board that decides which guns can be sold here.

We have a one-gun-per-month limit unless you are a designated collector.

We have a ten-round magazine capacity limit.

Private handgun sales must go through an FFL or the MSP, and the seven-day waiting period applies.

So-called "assault weapons" are banned.

On top of all this, back in 2013, the General Assembly decided to license the right to buy a handgun. Anyone wishing to purchase a handgun must obtain a Handgun Qualification License (HQL), which requires that applicants undergo professional training, be fingerprinted, and pay a fee to the state for their licenses. Once you jump through those hoops, the HQL is good for ten years. It is that part of Maryland's gun law that was invalidated; everything else remains in effect.

My dancing shoes are still packed away.

I'm curious: If you move to Maryland already owning a gun that is on the banned from sale list, can you be arrested for possession of it, or only for trying to sell it in the state?

 

[Beemerguy53]

I'm curious: If you move to Maryland already owning a gun that is on the banned from sale list, can you be arrested for possession of it, or only for trying to sell it in the state?

Only the sale or transfer of certain firearms is banned; possession of a formerly-legal gun is okay, so long as you acquired it legally and you're not prohibited from owning firearms. For example, you can no longer buy a Springfield Armory M1-A here, but if you owned one before they were banned, you can keep it (although you cannot transfer it within the state), and if you own one and move here from another state, you needn't divest it.

The same applies to magazines holding more than 10 rounds: You can't buy or sell them here in the state, but you can keep any you owned before the ban took effect. It is also apparently legal for a Maryland resident to buy magazines in person out of state.

Like most gun laws, Maryland's make sense only to people who don't know which end of a firearm goes bang. That's because they're just for show...they allow posturing politicians to say they're "doing something" about gun crime, while not actually putting their criminal constituents in the slammer.