On June 24th 2019, Maryland Shall Issue, Atlantic Guns, and the individual plaintiffs filed our opening brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from the district court’s dismissal in our challenge of the Handgun Qualification License. The District Court held that none of the plaintiffs had standing to complain about the HQL. In doing so, the court ignored much of the evidence of record, impermissibly acted as a fact finder on summary judgment and committed numerous errors of law in order to reach the result it did. You can read the newly filed brief HERE.
The State has 30 days to file their Brief of Appellees (the State will likely request an extension -- they always do) and we will then file a Reply brief in response. Oral argument before a 3-judge panel will then be scheduled for some months later in Richmond, VA. We will share those developments as they become available.
We firmly believe that the HQL only exists to burden and discourage law-abiding Marylanders from exercising their individual right to acquire a handgun for lawful self-defense. The suppression and rationing of ownership of guns has been the State's objective for years. Yet, unsurprisingly, the State's never ending attempt to illegalize guns has neither lessened crime nor made Maryland a safer place for people to live. One need only look to the years of increased violence in Baltimore for grim evidence of that. All that has been accomplished is to make it expensive and difficult for ordinary individuals to protect themselves and their families. As always, MSI will always stand up and push back against laws and policies that put the right of self defense out of reach from those who need it most.
Your generous support of MSI is what makes all this possible. Consider joining, renewing, or donating to MSI so that we can continue to support self defense and 2nd Amendment rights in Maryland.
