Maryland gun control laws bills
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From the Firearms Policy Coalition . . .

Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), and Maryland Shall Issue (MSI) announced the filing of a new federal Second Amendment lawsuit that seeks to restore the right to bear arms by making it possible for law-abiding individuals to carry a loaded handgun on their person in public for self-defense in the state of Maryland. The case, Call, et al. v. Jones, can be found at FPCLegal.org.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Nicole Moss, David Thompson, and Peter Patterson of Cooper & Kirk, Raymond DiGuiseppe of The DiGuiseppe Law Firm, and FPC Director of Legal Strategy Adam Kraut.

The State of Maryland’s laws make it a crime for a law-abiding person to carry a loaded handgun outside of the home unless they have been issued a permit to carry a handgun. Further, State law prevents individuals from obtaining a license because of further unconstitutional requirements, such as the “good and substantial reason” requirement, among others. Just like in the Bennett and Greco cases recently filed by FPC, challenging New Jersey’s and New York City’s respective bans, Maryland’s law amounts to a total ban on carry for the average law-abiding person. And consistent with other FPC and SAF cases, the plaintiffs argue here that the Supreme Court’s precedents take that policy choice off the table.

“The Second Amendment protects both the right to keep a firearm in the home and the right to carry a firearm for protection outside the home,” explained Pete Patterson of Cooper & Kirk. “Yet, the State of Maryland prohibits typical, law-abiding citizens from lawfully carrying firearms for self-defense outside of the home. This ban on carrying firearms is flatly unconstitutional, and we are bringing this suit to overturn contrary precedent in the Fourth Circuit and to secure the Second Amendment rights of the law-abiding citizens of Maryland.”

“The State of Maryland’s laws act as a complete bar to the average citizen from being able to carry a firearm for self-defense,” stated Ray DiGuiseppe. “Like several other states that have similar subjective provisions which function as an impossible threshold, Maryland’s ‘good and substantial reason’ cannot pass constitutional muster. This suit seeks to place all of Maryland’s citizens on equal footing when it comes to the ability to exercise their natural right to self-defense outside of the home.”

“Maryland’s laws, such as its ‘good and substantial reason’ requirement, destroy the right to bear arms in public, and by so doing, violate the Second and Fourteenth Amendments,” explained FPC’s Adam Kraut. “As the Supreme Court has already held, the enumeration of the right in our Constitution takes that policy choice off the table. Maryland, like all states, must respect the fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms and allow law-abiding people to carry loaded, operable arms in public for all lawful purposes.”

“Anti-gun Maryland officials have been using this dodge for years,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “By setting this arbitrary standard, state bureaucrats have been routinely denying Maryland citizens their right to bear arms. The state cannot be allowed to continue this discriminatory practice because it essentially gives public officials the power to deny someone’s fundamental, constitutionally-protected rights on a whim.”

“On behalf of our members, Maryland Shall Issue, Inc. is proud to announce that we’ve partnered with the Firearms Policy Coalition, the Second Amendment Foundation, and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in bringing a new legal challenge to Maryland’s unconstitutional ‘wear and carry’ permit requirements,” said Maryland Shall Issue President Mark Pennak. “The ‘good and substantial reason’ requirement for issuance of a permit imposed by Maryland law has long been used to effectively disqualify the vast majority of law-abiding Marylanders of their right to carry a handgun for the lawful purpose of self-defense. The time has come to end Maryland’s subjective and discriminatory law and regulations. The people of Maryland have a fundamental right to protect themselves in public.”

“The right to bear arms is not a second-class right nor a mere privilege that only some lucky people are ‘granted’ by the government on a case-by-case basis,” said FPC President and FPF Chairman Brandon Combs. “It is constitutionally and morally offensive for the Maryland government to criminalize the exercise of this fundamental human right. The Constitution itself provides the only justification necessary for law-abiding adults to exercise their fundamental, individual right to bear arms in public. FPC will proudly fight to restore the full scope of the Second Amendment in the Old Line State and throughout the nation in this and other cases.”

Recently, Firearms Policy Coalition has filed several major federal Second Amendment lawsuits, including challenges to New Jersey’s carry ban (Bennett v. Davis), New York City’s carry ban (Greco v. New York City), the federal ban on the sale of handguns and handgun ammunition by federal firearm licensees (FFLs) to adults under 21 years of age (Reese v. BATFE), and California’s Handgun Ban and “Roster” laws (Renna v. Becerra). FPC also has an upcoming trial in its lawsuit challenging California’s “assault weapons” ban (Miller v. Becerra).To follow these and other legal cases FPC is actively working on, visit the Legal Action section of FPC’s website or follow FPC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.

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37 COMMENTS

    • Booya!

      Hear ye, hear ye! I now haz an avatar so ye may all know I am the real Haz, and All Hail’s imposter posts can now be identified as such.

      I should have done this a long time ago (hat tip to user KenW for the nudge).

        • I think there is a one time deposit of $1,200, and a monthly fee of $10, and if you damage the avatar it will come out of your deposit when you check out. Inspect it carefully upon receipt, because you will be responsible for ALL damange upon return. User responsible for regular oil changes and other miscellaneous maintenance. With the premium avatar, you also get unlimited mileage.

  2. And when they put up gun-free zones and do not in any way enforce it…THAT needs to be brought to court as well.
    Sue…sue…sue… that is what America is GREAT at.

  3. Luv the article picture as it’s fitting for FPC and carpet bombing the tyrants and their usurpations of the Constitution,namely the 2 nd. amendment.

    FPC and SAF for the win !

    • That’s the excuse to keep guns from undesirables, i.e. those with too much melanin, “wrong” sexual interests, not famous, didn’t contribute enough money to the right candidates, belong to the other party, etc. It’s the teeth behind the racist Jim Crow laws that Debbie is always posting about. It’s arbitrary application of the law that’s contrary to justice and equal treatment.

      • Anymouse,

        It’s arbitrary application of the law that’s contrary to justice and equal treatment.

        Progressives will tell you that there is nothing arbitrary about Maryland’s “may-issue” public carry scheme. Rather, Progressives will tell you that Maryland consistently denies riff-raff from carrying in public while always allowing “upstanding” people to carry in public. They will even claim that Maryland’s scheme is totally logical and reasonable.

  5. What’s the fastest way to get a lawsuit like that to the SCOTUS?

    • I’m not sure there *is* a “fast way.”

      In fact, IMHO, now that the gun-grabbers know what’s waiting for them at SCOTUS, they will do everything they can to avoid getting there at all. That might mean giving up as much ground as they deem necessary to avoid further appeals by the plaintiffs. It might even mean accepting a loss at a Circuit level to avoid the appeal and even greater nation-wide loss at SCOTUS.

      But most importantly, as noted in other comments, this is a long game, and if Trump’s re-election is successfully stolen, I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before the Second Amendment is, for all intents and purposes, deleted from the US Constitution.

      • “…if Trump’s re-election is successfully stolen, I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before the Second Amendment is, for all intents and purposes, deleted from the US Constitution.”

        I, for one (around here) still believe DJT was the best thing ever to happen to the common, everyday middle-class person in the US since, perhaps, Ike, when the middle class was on the rise and new things were being built after WW2. Still, for anyone to put all their entire faith in one man is ridiculous- even if there is some miracle and the rampant fraud and cheats are actually exposed, we’d only have 4 more years of him. Then what? Who would carry on the fight and be able to get elected in spite of the obvious made up ballots being found in car trunks and the open and legal ballot harvesting and no ID requirements in many states?

        This battle to maintain, improve, or even retain our 2A rights will always be on-going and that will never end unless other large countries start ceding such rights to their subjects so our enlightened “betters” don’t want to keep making us like the places our ancestors all ran from. The key is to have some sort of banner to unite under.

        TTAG and some of the other blogs seem to hate NRA, the obvious largest and best “connected” organization. Posters list various reasons for hjating NRA but have never been able to come up with, or agree on “better” organization so those who say they’re concerned about RTKBA are splintered into ineffective small groups with little history of success and the battle will be more difficult, especially at the national level.

        Those of you who claim to hate NRA merely because of allegations towards WLP could find yourselves in the same situation as the “gun” people who wouldn’t vote for DJT:

        OK, you could be getting what you wanted. Now where do you think you’re going to go? Where’s your big, masterplan?

        And those of you with the “keep your powder dry” attitudes might as well contemplate suicide, you’ll not find many people to join your little imagined revolution.

        • The NRA?
          Tell us the last time they publicly fought for our rights. Notice they are absent in these joint efforts? Dis you notice VA is on its way to being another MD and what did tr he NRA do in the VA election cycles? In their home state!

          Add up the members of alternate gun groups and there are plenty of supporters ,many gun owners are members of several. I gave to the VCDL and don’t even live there.
          I bet there are close to 2 or 3 million people behind these groups. So forget the NRA and grow the smaller ones. Males for a harder target for the left.

        • “for anyone to put all their entire faith in one man is ridiculous- even if there is some miracle and the rampant fraud and cheats are actually exposed”

          So you have simultaneously completely missed, and also hit my point straight on the head. Quite a feat.

          Nothing I said should be interpreted as “all my faith” is in one man. You made unfounded assumptions.

          It is the last part of your sentence that illustrates my point. It’s not that “Trump” was stolen, but that “a” duly elected president would have been removed from office through “rampant fraud and cheats.”

          Once they get away with it once, in this case in particular, we KNOW that no further investigation would continue under a Biden administration, we start down the slippery slope of no return. Yes, such a forecast can sometimes be a logical fallacy. But not in every case, and certainly not in this case. The Democrats themselves have BRAGGED about what they plan to do, and all of it ends with the destruction of meaningful elections in this country.

        • “even if there is some miracle and the rampant fraud and cheats are actually exposed, we’d only have 4 more years of him. Then what?”

          Nikki “I don’t get confused” Haley.

          You’re right about the election fraud. The only way out of that mess is national open election standards. Paper ballots mechanically counted. Numbered ballot boxes tied to a specific precinct. Election observers in every precinct and video recording everything happening there.

          They will never agree to that, so what we must do if sue for it and take to the SCotUS for implementation. The relief we seek is fair elections.

          This republic is *gone* if we don’t get this. The only option after that is secession or…

      • “That might mean giving up as much ground as they deem necessary to avoid further appeals by the plaintiffs.”

        Shall-issue in California and New York will be *sweet* for those trapped there…

    • This is the fastest way. With suits brought in various Circuits, it increases the probability of conflicting decisions, which are more likely to be granted Cert by the Supreme Court. The 9th said no right in Peruta, so a win on our side introduces a conflict.

  6. Because it’s my right. The Constitution says so. All the tyrant f#☆kwit politicians can FOAD.

    • “The Constitution says I can that’s why.”

      Actually, the Constitution states that the federal government cannot interfere with your right to carry (prior to 1868 and oppression of the federal limits onto the states).

  8. You maybe have 2 years to get your cases heard…….if the democrats don’t pack the court. Keep in mind, if joe biden wins, he can put the court back to the Roberts majority if Clarence Thomas retires…then we are back to the 5-4 split with Roberts being the deciding vote, because biden will replace Thomas with an anti-gun, anti-American left wing activist. And he will likely also replace breyer so this 5-4 split will be long term……so get all of your cases to the Supreme Court as fast as possible….

    • The dems aren’t packing the court this time around. There are going to be at least 50 R Senators, probably 51, and maybe even 52. Biden won’t be packing the court until at least the midterm election, and probably not at all.

      • “There are going to be at least 50 R Senators, probably 51, and maybe even 52.”

        I keep seeing, reading, hearing that the Senate will be 50-50, with Harris (who I always considered the most dangerous Dim candidate) breaking the tie.

        • That’s why it is imperative no funny business happens in January. I hope the legislature demands the state police oversees the individual precincts to ensure poll observers can do their jobs without interference…

          • “I hope the legislature demands the state police oversees the individual precincts…”

            No police agency is fully versed in election law. The counts will be suspended, if needed, in order to find the right number of ballots. Just like happened already in four Dim states during this election, and San Diego in 2018. Police would not be able to determine if the suspension is permissible.

      • You might even have a few (not many) Democrat senators from purple states that will not be on board with packing the court. They know that packing the court is extremely unpopular with the public. Hope we don’t have to rely on that.

  10. “or follow FPC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube”

    Someone needs to get them on Parler as well!

  11. MD is one of the very worse states in terms of carry laws. Probably tied with NJ and Hawaii. If you know the right people and have enough money it can be done but anyone walking in the county office to get an application will be laughed out.

    Even NY and California have plenty of carry permits, it’s just that you can’t hope to get one in the liberal enclaves.

  12. Our current Attorney General (not just a Senator anymore) will fight any lawsuit to dismantle our “Good and Substantial” mandate tooth and nail. His sentiments echo (Concealed Carriers are “nuts”) our State General Assembly and probably most State Police Officials (our permissions are granted not by local Sheriffs but rather by the State Police). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMVa-zxN3eE

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