BALTIMORE (AP) — 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, are unconstitutionally restrictive.
Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond said they considered the case in light of a U.S. 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.
Even though Maryland’s law doesn’t prohibit people from “owning handguns at some time in the future, it still prohibits them from owning handguns now,” Richardson wrote.
Pennack said the 2013 law made obtaining a handgun an overly expensive and arduous process.
Before that law passed, he said, people had to complete a more limited training and pass a background check, among other requirements.
Persons:
“, Wes Moore, ”, ” Moore, Judge Julius Richardson, Richardson, G, Steven Agee, ” Richardson, doesn’t, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan, misapplied, Keenan, ” Agee, —, Mark Pennack, he’s, Tuesday’s, Pennack
Organizations:
BALTIMORE, —, U.S, Circuit, Supreme, Sandy Hook Elementary, Maryland . Maryland Gov, Republican, Democrat
Locations:
Richmond, Maryland