Maryland is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that one of its requirements to obtain a handgun permit is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg ruled last month that the state’s requirement that people show a “good and substantial reason” to get a permit infringed on citizens’ Second Amendment right to bear arms.
The state filed notice this week that it would appeal that ruling to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“This office has a legal and constitutional obligation to vigorously defend the laws of the state of Maryland,” said David Paulson, a spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office.
Raymond Woollard filed the lawsuit in federal court in Baltimore in 2010 challenging the “good and substantial reason” requirement after his application to renew his handgun permit was denied.
Woollard had initially obtained the permit after an intruder — who turned out to be his son-in-law — broke into his Baltimore County home in 2002. He renewed the permit after the man was released from prison, but a second renewal was denied in 2009 because he didn’t show evidence of a continued threat outside his home, according to the suit.
In striking down the “good and substantial reason” requirement, Legg said the regulation wasn’t narrowly tailored to the state’s public-safety interests and improperly put the burden on citizens to show why they needed a handgun permit.
“A citizen may not be required to offer a ‘good and substantial reason’ why he should be permitted to exercise his rights,” the opinion says. “The right’s existence is all the reason he needs.”
Woollard is being represented by Alan Gura, a constitutional lawyer who has won U.S. Supreme Court rulings striking down handgun laws in the District and in Chicago. Gura couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
Legg has granted a temporary stay of the ruling. He has requested both sides to file additional briefs before ruling on whether the stay should remain in effect throughout the appeals process.
Legg has also ordered the Maryland State Police to re-process Woollard’s 2009 permit renewal application without considering the “good and substantial reason” requirement.
