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Maryland's handgun licensing law has been struck down by a federal appeals court

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.

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  • Damn, you're really betting a lot on people just not fact checking you.

    My claim was that the US homicide rates are a fraction of global rates. Any US rate less than the global rate proves that claim. Your links support my claim. US rates have consistently been ~2/3 global rates for decades.

    The rest of your arguments on that point are non-sequitur.

    You are upset that our rates are not as low as the nations you have cherry picked for low rates. You have focused on one relatively minor factor in which we differ from those other nations (gun rights) and completely ignore the major factors (welfare state, strong poverty controls, strong worker protections, universal healthcare, etc.) that are actually responsible for those lower rates.

    The lack of correlation between GDP per Capita and US homicide rates just tells us the human cost of not implementing those social programs that Europe enjoys.

    Looks to me like you just voted, then tried to claim other people's work as the work of guns.

    Ohio was once a key swing state. That started to change about 20 years ago. We swung red, and didn't go back. Our votes on reproductive rights and marijuana should tell you that we aren't actually as red as we look in national elections. Either the GOP is right on something (that isn't abortion or drugs, because they are consistently losing on both) or the Democrats have been very wrong on something in Ohio.

    That something is "guns". We adopted concealed carry in 2004, and support for guns has only increased since then. For 19 years, Democrats have been alienating the majority position on guns in Ohio, and wondering why the state went red.

    Florida went the same way, same time frame, same reason.

170 comments