A federal appeals court has struck down a Maryland law requiring people to obtain a special license before purchasing a handgun. Judges on the 4th U.S.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down Maryland’s handgun licensing law, finding that its requirements, which include submitting fingerprints for a background check and taking a four-hour firearms safety course, are unconstitutionally restrictive.

In a 2-1 ruling, judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond said they considered the case in light of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that “effected a sea change in Second Amendment law.”

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, which was passed in 2013 in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, laid out a series of necessary steps for would-be gun purchasers: completing four hours of safety training that includes firing one live round, submitting fingerprints and passing a background check, being 21 and residing in Maryland.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said he was disappointed in the circuit court’s ruling and will “continue to fight for this law.” He said his administration is reviewing the ruling and considering its options.

  • @WodgeEnglish
    5•1 year ago

    If you look at the UK, they vote with pencils - all because there is the remote possibility of replacing a pen with one that has disappearing ink.

    lol no. Voting with pencils is because they’re cheap, abundant, don’t leak, don’t smudge when folding the ballot paper. It’s recommendation, not a law No nonsense about disappearing ink.

    Source: Am from UK and have voted with a pen (blue, black, green and red ink) and a pencil.

    • TWeaKEnglish
      0•1 year ago

      Check yourself.

      You can bring your own pen to vote in the UK, that’s fine. However the utensil they provide is always a pencil, for the exact reason I gave.

      I’m also in the UK, and I normally use Pilot Frixion pens.

      Edit: Argos use pens. Pens are cheaper than pencils.

      • @Stovetop
        3•1 year ago

        FYI Frixion pens erase with heat. If the ballot is exposed to the temperature of, say, a blow-dryer, or is left to bake in the sun, the marks will fade.

        Learned that when I tried to laminate a document I handwrote with a Frixion pen and out came a blank laminated piece of paper.

        • TWeaKEnglish
          2•1 year ago

          Yup, I’m aware, and your username is particularly poignant. I always worried that my exams would be left on top of a stove and all my work would be erased. Thankfully that never happened, though.