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.
In a 2-1 ruling, judges on the 4th U.S. 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. The law, which was passed in 2013 in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, laid out a series of necessary steps for would-be gun purchasers: completing four hours of safety training that includes firing one live round, submitting fingerprints and passing a background check, being 21 and residing in Maryland.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said he was disappointed in the circuit court’s ruling and will “continue to fight for this law.” He said his administration is reviewing the ruling and considering its options.
Jesus. Those requirements are not a lot to ask.
It’s easier than voting in some places.
You have to take a 4-hour course to vote?
you have to stand in a 6 hour line in direct sunlight at 100° Temps where food and water is forbidden to vote here in Georgia.
That’s a feature, not a bug.
Who pays for the 4-hour course?
The person who pays for the gun.
In Maryland? It looks like the course is free but the instructors generally charge $25 for the cert.
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In most states with similar systems the person applying.
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They also are part of States Rights
That’s basically the requirements in my state for a cpl, but requiring that just to purchase a gun seems a bit much.
To purchase a lethal weapon, fingerprints for a background check and a four hour training course is too much? I’m pretty sure a commercial pilot license requires more than 4 hours of training.
Just a regular drivers license requires more than that, and we pretty much require those to live (because the system is fucked up, but still…) and their purpose is not to kill.
One of these things is guaranteed in the constitution and one isn’t.
Sure, but that’s a different claim than the one you made.
It’s really not. Firearms are allowed by the constitution and therefore only minimal restrictions are allowed. Fingerprints and permits are far from minimal, and background checks are already a federal requirement. The fact it’s hard to be a pilot isn’t really relevant.
I was not the one to claim that “That’s basically the requirements in my state for a cpl”. If it isn’t really relevant, I’m not sure why you brought it up.
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Then join the National Guard, local police force, or military. Because when that was written that’s what the Militia was for. There is no town militia waiting to get called out anymore which means it should be defunct. Instead we ignore half the dang thing and pretend we’re all the militia when in reality if Canada invaded tomorrow the Army would be pleading with civilians to get out of the way, not recruiting meal team six.
The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. No where dies it say militia members only.
See there you go. Missing half the dang Amendment.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
You cannot argue an uninfringed right to personal ownership without also arguing that we need universal conscription and continuing training for all able bodied adults. And if you can’t fulfill that duty then you don’t get guns.
And the right is explicitly granted to the people, a well regulated militia is irrelevant to the existence of the right. Now you could argue the first phrase grants the right to conscription to the government I suppose, but no one is really making that argument. The right is explicitly given to the people, not people that are conscripted or subject to it, the constitution and amendments are very good about being explicit when they are limiting the scope of a power or right to a subgroup and that isn’t the case here.
Why is that a bit much? You should have to know how to properly use and store a deadly weapon, shouldn’t you? There is no way to be a responsible gun owner without education.
There is no way to be a responsible gun owner without education.
Here it comes, the talking points.
Take note, they will try to push this nonsense to make it mandatory that everyone pay for classes in order to purchase a firearm.
They want it to be seen as objective fact that you can’t be a responsible gun owner without paying for classes so they can suppress gun ownership and eventually ban it.
SeaJ, be honest. Do you think civilian gun ownership should be banned? His answer to this is a big fat yes, and taking the ‘more reasonable’ approach of requiring paid classes is just a stepping stone to reach his end goal.
Take note, they will try to push this nonsense to make it mandatory that everyone pay for classes in order to purchase a firearm.
Classes should be free.
Who is this they you are constantly referring to?
SeaJ, be honest. Do you think civilian gun ownership should be banned? His answer to this is a big fat yes, and taking the ‘more reasonable’ approach of requiring paid classes is just a stepping stone to reach his end goal.
Hopefully you won that argument you completely made up. No. I do not wish to see gun ownership be completely illegal. However, safety classes should be required, have background checks (system needs to be open to the public) and wait periods, and there should be safe storage laws. That is about it. No magazine capacity limits or ‘assault’ weapons bans.
Sorry that I prefer not to have people who do not know what the fuck they are doing to be carrying around very deadly weapons. Responsible gun owners are all fine being educated and storing their shit properly. It sounds like you do not fall into that category.
So before 2013 there were no responsible gun owners?
What? Does your brain function? Do you think people weren’t driving cars safely before driver’s licenses were required? Of course there were responsible gun owners, but there were also more irresponsible gun owners because being responsible wasn’t a requirement.
If I put a height requirment for a roller-coaster, does that imply that before no one above that height rode it? Obviously not. It only means that after fewer people below it will, because before there was nothing stopping them.
any requirement is way too much, the constitution isn’t to restrict us, we the people,but rather the government.
Yeah… No. It’s meant for both. You do know we had slavery (and still do) in the constitution, right? It’s restricted a ton of people’s rights. That said, the 9th amendment should protect most. The 2nd amendment does not apply anymore, since we don’t require conscripted militias to protect the nation while we have a standing professional army.
Im all for gun rights, but it has to have reasonable limits. Firing one round is honestly not enough in my opinion. You should have to prove competency with firing and maintaining your firearm, as well as proper safe methods for storing and transporting it.
the problem is people like yourself don’t just stop at “common sense limitations”
people like yourself
Please, tell me what my desired limitations are?
I have to say, the US looks crazier and crazier by the day. It’s not just the guns, it’s pretty much everything these days.
You’re literally right it does look crazier, but that is almost entirely because of how our mass media and cancerous 24/hr news cycle work.
If you turn your TV off and go outside, reality does not match what you see on TV, or worse, read on the internet.
The “crazy” is generally confined and limited to fringe elements that get 1000x the attention and signal boosting than normal people do.
I heard gunshots when I was walking my dog last night.
I hear them all the time… It’s deer hunting season.
Nah it’s still crazy outside, unless you live in the middle of nowhere where nothing happens.
phew, we dodged dodging a bullet there
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Quite a few actually. State background checks are actually more effective than the NICS system.
But this theory of gun laws must have existed for 200 years is ridiculous too. We could be stopping more shootings by making private sales illegal. We could stop many more by restricting to bolt action and revolvers. Both of which aren’t going to pass the test simply because technology has advanced since then.
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I mean, Maggoty answered your question fairly, and then you changed what you asked him and moved the goal posts. That seems a bit dishonest to me.
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Moving the goal posts after you ask a question, then lying about it, is not dishonet?
Pull the other foot, please!
No way to stop this says only country where this regularly happens.
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we need to tackle the reasons behind the violence
except for the reason being the prevelancy and availability of deadly firearms with no barriers to entry, that is a special reason that is forbidden to be discussed because everyone has a fantasy about being able to take on the US military in a one man coup.
they can also bomb it or gas it
and yet they don’t
you don’t give a fuck about innocent children dying, do you?
what the hell kind of statement is that? You should edit that comment out and apologize as it’s completely uncalled for.
you just want to virtue signal on the internet
yes, as the internet is a series of signals, both electromagnetic and orthographic all any of us can do is signal things on the internet. It’s not like I can physically do anything online, it being a virtual medium. How would you suggest I communicate without signaling anything, and how do you recommend behaving if not according to the virtues that I personally hold?
you can show your friends
I assure you I show none of my irl friends my comment history- do you?
grow up… put some thought into these issues
Says the guy who accused me of not caring about children dying?!?!
Bombings were much more common than mass shootings, and much deadlier, until they declined in popularity about 20 years ago. There are still random bombings, (and tons of bomb threats) they just don’t get nearly as much media attention.
Where firearms are heavily restricted, bombings are much more common.
2001-
2003edit typo: 2013Deaths by guns: 406,500
Deaths by all other forms of terrorism: 3,380
Now show us mass shootings.
And clarify what areas you’re talking about, because it certainly isn’t the US, and it certainly isn’t global.
Mass Shootings is a propaganda statistic devised to reduce numbers. Why do I care if 3 people got shot instead of 2? It doesn’t make those 2 people any less shot.
At least two thirds of them according to this paper https://injepijournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40621-021-00330-0
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Because you refuse to acknowledge that making guns available to idiots causes death.
He’s one of the idiots.
What other right do we put behind fingerprinting and coursework. Do you lose your right to remain silent if you don’t take a fucking course? No, the federal courts are bringing this right in line with the others.
Exactly! It’s not like we put our Voting Rights behind IDs and fees and make people lose that right if they’re in prison!
