218
submitted 11 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 52 points 11 months ago

Jesus. Those requirements are not a lot to ask.

[-] Jimmyeatsausage@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago

It's easier than voting in some places.

[-] interceder270@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

You have to take a 4-hour course to vote?

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 5 points 11 months ago

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.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] interceder270@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Who pays for the 4-hour course?

[-] Illuminostro@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

The person who pays for the gun.

[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 8 points 11 months ago

In Maryland? It looks like the course is free but the instructors generally charge $25 for the cert.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (25 replies)
[-] JustZ@lemmy.world 33 points 11 months ago

Ridiculous. Throwing out 250+ years of settled law because of a radical Supreme Court with two bullshit appointments.

[-] FireTower@lemmy.world 30 points 11 months ago

The earliest hand gun licensing systems weren't implemented until the just before the Civil War in the South (for the exact reasons you'd think the South would do that).

[-] SupraMario@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago

Aka racism...gun laws like this are designed to keep minorities from obtaining protection.

[-] JustZ@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

True. Before that you needed to have a certain job. Purposive open carry laws. The other gun law at the time was breach of peace, which is what you'd have been charged with for open carrying. The idea that guns cannot be regulated is a modern invention by people who want Americans to kill each other, and who don't give a fuck about rights.

load more comments (11 replies)
[-] GiddyGap@lemm.ee 9 points 11 months ago

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.

[-] spyd3r@sh.itjust.works 12 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

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.

[-] inflatablerobot@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

I heard gunshots when I was walking my dog last night.

[-] spyd3r@sh.itjust.works 6 points 11 months ago

I hear them all the time... It's deer hunting season.

[-] Witchfire@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

Nah it's still crazy outside, unless you live in the middle of nowhere where nothing happens.

[-] blazera@kbin.social 8 points 11 months ago

phew, we dodged dodging a bullet there

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2023
218 points (98.2% liked)

News

23305 readers
3710 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS