To those uninitiated into how such things work:
On the good side: This is a FEDERAL judge explicitly using the Second Amendment to counter a restriction on actually carrying a ready weapon.
On the not-yet-good side: It is just the District court, is sure to be appealed to the Circuit Court, and won't have any real power until upheld. And then it will only apply to whatever federal court district Maryland's in (too tired to look it up) until the Supreme Court upholds it on the same grounds.
It's a start!
Maryland handgun permit provision unconstitutional, federal judge rules
By Dan Morse and Aaron C. Davis,
A federal judge in Maryland has ruled that state residents no longer must show they have a good reason to carry a handgun outside their home, declaring a key provision of the state's gun-control laws unconstitutional.
Gun rights advocates said the opinion — in a relatively liberal state with some of the country's tightest gun restrictions — would help as they challenge similar laws in about a half-dozen states. Maryland officials said Monday that they are seeking a stay and will appeal the decision.
U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg focused on one portion of Maryland law that requires residents to show they have a "good and substantial reason" to carry a gun, such as a "precaution against apprehended danger." Legg found that the requirement, kicking in alongside background checks, was too broad and said it violates the Second Amendment.
"The Court finds that the right to bear arms is not limited to the home," Legg wrote in a 23-page ruling signed Friday.
The judge added that the requirement for issuing a handgun permit amounts to a "rationing system" to limit the number of guns carried outside the home. "The law impermissibly infringes the right to keep and bear arms, guaranteed by the Second Amendment," he wrote.
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