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.