ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Gun rights groups scored a major victory in Maryland going into this holiday weekend after a federal court ruled the state's handgun licensing requirement is unconstitutional, but the ruling does not immediately clear the way to buy a pistol without a license in the state.
The licensing measure will remain in effect for at least 21 days after the ruling, or potentially much longer should Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown decide to appeal, according to Mark Pennak of Maryland Shall Issue, the gun rights group behind the challenge to the licensing law.
Brown’s office issued a statement saying: “We are weighing options for next steps in this case, which prevents us from any further comment at this point.”
Since 2013, Maryland has required handgun buyers to obtain a license first which is among the strictest gun control measures in the nation.
Applicants must pass a background check, get fingerprinted, take a four-hour training course, and show up a gun range to prove they can handle and fire a handgun safely.
Gun rights groups argued that licensing costs buyers hundreds of dollars, and at least 30 days of time to get the license in hand, which is so burdensome that it effectively denies the right to bear arms from 10's of thousands of applicants.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled that the requirements are unconstitutional.
“The law’s waiting period could well be the critical time in which the applicant expects to face danger,” the court wrote in it's 2-1 opinion.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore issued a statement saying: “ I am determined to do more than just give thoughts and prayers and attend funerals – and that’s why this law is vital to our administration’s commitment to keeping guns out of the wrong hands and saving lives.”
Gun rights attorney Mark Pennak of the group Maryland Shall Issue, which challenged the license, says he expects an appeal from Maryland authorities.
“It is simply designed to create an obstruction," Pennak said.
Pennak argues striking down the license law will make citizens safer.
"Absolutely, because it will allow people to acquire the means for effective self defense in the home," Pennak said.
Pennak points out that older Maryland laws requiring a background check and a seven-day waiting period to purchase a handgun remain in effect, even if the licensing requirement is swept away.
"It doesn't really strip the ability of the state to guard the public safety all," he said.
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