Federal appeals court grants petition for full court to consider Maryland gun law

BALTIMORE– The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has granted Maryland’s petition for the full court to consider the state’s gun licensing law, which was rejected by a three-judge panel in November, Maryland’s attorney general said. Anthony Brown, Thursday.

The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that Maryland’s law, which requires most citizens to obtain a permit before purchasing a handgun, was unconstitutional. Brown’s office last month requested a hearing for a full review by the court.

The November ruling found that it was unconstitutionally restrictive for Maryland to require people to obtain a permit before purchasing a handgun. The process for obtaining a license can take up to 30 days.

“I welcome the court’s decision to rehear this case and will continue to defend common-sense gun laws to protect Marylanders from these unnecessary and highly avoidable tragedies,” Brown said.

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 was passed in 2013 in the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.