The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has struck down a portion of Maryland’s Firearm Safety Act of 2013. The decision serves to partially reverse a prior ruling from the US District Court for the District of Maryland at Baltimore. The contentious Maryland legislation, that had been enacted in the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting, mandated completion of a ‘firearms safety training course’ before purchasing a firearm.
Upon hearing oral arguments, Circuit Judge Julius Richardson authored the majority opinion of the three-judge panel. The decision centered around the application of the two-part Bruen test derived from the 2021 US Supreme Court case New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. In summary, this test evaluates gun control laws first by whether their scope falls under the Second Amendment, and second, if they align with the country’s established tradition of firearms regulation. In this instance, Judge Richardson determined the Maryland law failed the test because it defaulted to assuming individuals are dangerous – a presumption they then had to disprove – rather than focusing on identifying those already known or suspected of posing a threat.
Senior Circuit Judge Barbara Keenan provided the dissenting opinion, arguing that the majority had more broadly interpreted the Bruen test than intended. Judge Keenan underscored her view that the Maryland law didn’t unreasonably infringe upon law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights and that this aggressive interpretation of the Second Amendment could risk making most non-discretionary gun laws across the country unconstitutional.
Maryland’s law had required a permit to purchase handguns after successful completion of a background check and a firearm safety training course. In the wake of this ruling, Maryland Governor Wes Moore has pledged his continued support for the law and vowed to “continue to fight for this law”. The Governor stated the law is “vital to our administration’s commitment to keeping guns out of the wrong hands and saving lives.”
Further reading can be found at JURIST – News.