Maryland Gun Licensing Scheme Upheld by Full Appeals Court (1)

Maryland’s handgun qualification statute is constitutional, the full Fourth Circuit said Friday in a 14-2 decision.

The US Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen ruling foreclosed gun groups’ argument that “any ‘temporary deprivation’ of the ability to purchase a handgun” violates the Second Amendment, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan said for the majority.

Bruen holds that “despite some delay occasioned by ‘shall-issue’ permit processes, this type of licensing law is presumptively constitutional because it operates merely to ensure that individuals seeking to exercise their Second Amendment rights are ‘law-abiding’ persons,” Keenan said. “We hold that the plaintiffs have failed to rebut this presumption ...