Maryland Handgun Permit Law Found Unconstitutional

Normally I wouldn't care that much about a law in Maryland, but the requirements there are similar to California and I'd love to see the CA law changed:

Maryland’s requirement that residents show a “good and substantial reason” to get a handgun permit is unconstitutional, according to a federal judge’s opinion filed Monday.

States can channel the way their residents exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms, but because Maryland’s goal was to minimize the number of firearms carried outside homes by limiting the privilege to those who could demonstrate “good reason,” it had turned into a rationing system, infringing upon residents’ rights, U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg wrote.

“A citizen may not be required to offer a `good and substantial reason’ why he should be permitted to exercise his rights,” he wrote. “The right’s existence is all the reason he needs.”

California sheriffs who issue the permits...rarely...seem to doubt that the 2nd Amendment actually exists. It's extremely difficult to get a permit unless you can show them the picture of the guy who plans to kill you. It shouldn't be that way.

If you're a good citizen, no history of mental problems or felonies, and can demonstrate a knowledge of gun laws and the use of your firearm, you should be able to get a permit. I hope someone challenges the California law and references the Maryland decision. It could be a game changer.

And in a related case, courts also ruled that students at the University of Colorado who have legal gun permits can carry the weapons on campus.  You're not going to have another Virginia Tech there - not with students who can shoot back.