Maryland to appeal the ruling in Woollard v. Sheridan

As expected, the Maryland Attorney General’s office has filed a timely notice of appeal in the case of Woollard v Sheridan which struck down Maryland’s requirement that an applicant for a handgun [carry] permit demonstrate a subjective “good and substantial reason.”

The state is effectively arguing that citizens of Maryland, who are not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing a firearm and who are capable of passing a background check in order to receive a permit to carry a handgun for self defense purposes, are somehow far more likely to commit “unspeakably tragic act[s] of mayhem” than the citizens of the 42 states which do not have such restrictions on permit issuance.

[sincerity] What makes those annoying commoners believe they need rights? If we better people felt they needed rights, we'd have granted them rights. [/sincerity]

Nice article John & well explained! Maryland continues to trample on it's citizens rights, & I am a bit dumbfounded as to why the good people of Maryland continue to allow it. This phrase says alot:

"The state is effectively arguing that citizens of Maryland, who are not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing a firearm and who are capable of passing a background check in order to receive a permit to carry a handgun for self defense purposes, are somehow far more likely to commit “unspeakably tragic act[s] of mayhem” than the citizens of the 42 states which do not have such restrictions on permit issuance."

But the people continue to vote in the folks who think this way about them. {sigh}

I moved to a 2nd amendment friendly state, but GO RAVENS!

BreezyDog,

It is possible ... and Maryland makes no distinction between resident and non-resident permits. However, until the stay motion is resolved, it might be a waste of money. Until the stay is lifted, Maryland can still continue to use their discretionary standard.

For those who are willing to test the waters ... :)

The MD State Police Firearms Permit page is at
http://www.mdsp.org/Organization/SupportServicesBureau/LicensingDivision/HandgunPermit.aspx

The bottom right hand corner of the page has a link to the application, which can be downloaded, printed out and filled in.

On the application, page 7, line 9a, where it asks for a reason, fill in “Self Defense and all other lawful purposes”

MD does NOT have a training or competency requirement.

Fingerprints are required. MD is apparently gearing up to accept only electronic or Live Scan fingerprints, and there is conflict on the MD State Police web site as to when this becomes effective. One page says March 19, 2012 while another says March 1.

Fingerprint rules can be found at
http://www.mdsp.org/Portals/0/Users/055/55/55/2012%20Licensing%20Division%20Fingerprint%20Rules.A.pdf

A list of electronic fingerprint providers in MD can be found at:

http://www.dpscs.state.md.us/publicservs/fingerprint.shtml

The licensing division page is at:
http://www.mdsp.org/Organization/SupportServicesBureau/LicensingDivision.aspx

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