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.

  • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    It’s the pro-gun crowd that insist no systems are enacted to separate “idiots” and “domestic terrorists” from “responsible gun owners”, so you’re either going to have to take responsibility for them or finally agree to changes that single them out.

    Yes, please in your Almighty wisdom tell us how you would enact this?

    Maybe if you can’t come to an agreement with the rest of the country, you could come to some kind of agreement with the mass shooters instead?

    The rest of the country? You do realize that people who are gun owners are the majority right? There are way more people who own them, then not. Mass shootings are a recent phenomenon, not something that has been happening for forever and it’s all the guns fault. We’ve been armed for a long time, hell kids used to bring their rifles to school so they could go hunt afterwards, and this was less than 40 years ago that kids were doing this.

    They want to shoot children, the pro-gun community has children, and the pro-gun community believes that some children should be shot if it means maintaining the current gun laws.

    Ah yes here it comes the tried and true method of dehumanizing your opponent…you think an AWB will stop school shootings…and because I don’t think it will and that we need to focus on why they happen and solve that, you slam down the “ok with kids being shot”…how original.

    That should settle things down until you’ve finished building your mental health utopia where its safe to give a gun to any man, woman or child, at any time, because you’ve completely cured violent impulses forever.

    You know the thing that bothers me most about you anti-2a types?..you automatically assume you’re debating a white right wing republican…

    My wishlist of how to heavily curb all violence in this country starts with:

    Single payer

    Ending the war on drugs

    Ending for profit prisons

    Ending qualified immunity

    Paying teachers more

    Building more schools and hiring more teachers so class sizes can get back down to like 10-15 kids a classroom vs 30+

    Making sure everyone has safety nets in place (think ubi)

    Making sure all kids are heavily protected by these safety nets, so they don’t turn to gangs

    I’ve got more but this is a good start.

    We do know about it. The entire world knows about it. That’s literally what this whole conversation is about.

    No…no you don’t…2/3rds of our gun deaths are suicides…the remaining 3rd has around 85% as gang/drug violence, then domestic violence and then police killing people and self defense… the last tiny bit is mass shootings… it’s basically a rounding error it’s so small.

    • PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Yes, please in your Almighty wisdom tell us how you would enact this?

      Most mass shooters have a history of domestic violence, but the pro-gun community opposes disarming domestic abusers.

      Most mass shooters have a history of red flags, but the pro-gun community opposes disarming people with red flags.

      But really, you seem to have misunderstood whose problem this is to solve. It’s not the people who support gun control doing all the mass shootings, its legal gun owners (or the children of legal gun owners).

      If you want me to solve it, I’m more than happy to, bur you’re not going to like it.

      The rest of the country? You do realize that people who are gun owners are the majority right?

      The majority of Americans support stricter gun legislation. basically any time they’re asked.

      Mass shootings are a recent phenomenon, not something that has been happening for forever and it’s all the guns fault

      You mean the last 20 years, during which you’ve let the problem spiral further and further out of control, despite insisting that you have the answers?

      That percentage also won’t be going down as all the children you sold out graduate and have to face sending their own children off to play mass-shooting roulette.

      We’ve been armed for a long time, hell kids used to bring their rifles to school so they could go hunt afterwards, and this was less than 40 years ago that kids were doing this.

      Then jump in your time machine and fuck off back there, because that America no longer exists.

      If you think you can rebuild it, go right ahead. Until then, gun legislation isn’t even remotely close to handling the America of today and needs to be addressed immediately.

      Ah yes here it comes the tried and true method of dehumanizing your opponent…you think an AWB will stop school shootings

      Oh no, you’re mistaking me for a politician tip-toeing around a death cult. I’d ban all semi-automatic firearms from being privately owned, because they’re the weapons of choice for criminals and terrorists.

      It’s not even remotely close to worth it. All the pro-gun promises turned out to be lies and fantasies.

      because I don’t think it will and that we need to focus on why they happen and solve that, you slam down the “ok with kids being shot”…how original.

      How many innocent lives are your gun laws worth then? Because we’ve got the numbers and you’ve done nothing, so I just assumed it was more than that.

      My wishlist of how to heavily curb all violence in this country starts with

      Damn, looks like you’ve got a fuckload of work ahead of you before it’s safe to sell guns to people again. Better get started.

      2/3rds of our gun deaths are suicides

      Means reduction has worked for every form of suicide it’s targeted.

      the remaining 3rd has around 85% as gang/drug violence

      The they get their guns from the magic gun fairy, or did they steal then from “responsible gun owners” who left their guns poorly secured?

      Or did they just buy one because “haven’t been convicted of a felony yet” is a trivial bar to clear? Or maybe they just bought one privately without a background check at all, because that’s a feature that pro-gun cultists insist on?

      then domestic violence

      Which again, the gun lobby doesn’t consider grounds for disarming someone.

      the last tiny bit is mass shootings… it’s basically a rounding error it’s so small.

      Weren’t you objecting to the “okay with kids being shot” label just a few sentences ago? Because calling murdered people a “rounding error” sounds exactly like someone who is okay with kids getting shot.

      As long as they’re not yours apparently.

      • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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        1 year ago

        That percentage also won’t be going down as all the children you sold out graduate and have to face sending their own children off to play mass-shooting roulette.

        Your mass shooter drills, where you scare the living hell out of every child in America, are backfiring on you. In their teens, these kids are learning that they don’t have to be defenseless targets. They are learning that they can, indeed, fight back. By the time they are 18-21, these kids are buying guns, so they never have to feel like they did when you barricaded them in a room and told them to pretend someone was trying to kill them.

        • PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Yeah they’re not going to fall for “standing up to us makes us stronger so you should stop”, nor “this is why 5 year olds need guns”. You’re just another gun owner living in a fantasy world.

          They’re fully aware of who is responsible for arming school shooters and exactly those people respond to being told “you need to stop arming school shooters”.

          • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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            1 year ago

            The fear you have been instilling in kids with your shooter drills doesn’t disappear when they leave school. They take that lesson with them when they leave: they need to be prepared for violence at all times. They are taking up guns faster than any other time in US history. And, they are voting as gun owners, whether they decide to have kids or not.

              • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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                1 year ago

                I sleep soundly at night, comfortable in the knowledge that your hoplophobic philosophy is on the decline; that the upcoming generations are much more likely to own guns than their parents and grandparents, thanks in large part to irrational fear mongering among educators.

                I sleep soundly knowing that racially-motivated concealed-carry bans, originating in the former slave states shortly after the civil war, have been repealed, and most states have reverted to “constitutional carry”. Subsequent laws, like California’s/Reagan’s “Mulford Act”, (specifically designed to prevent civil rights advocates from being able to protect themselves and marginalized communities from abuse by racist cops), are under fire, and unlikely to survive pending legal challenges.

                I sleep soundly knowing that US murder rates are a fraction of global rates, a fraction of the rates Inexperienced in my own youth, and near record lows. Most of the US is well below even European averages, despite our abysmal poverty controls, lack of healthcare, and systemic criminal justice issues. Our problems are effectively isolated to a relatively small number of ultra-violent communities and the occasional media-driven whack job.

                I am thrilled that the people of Ohio just enshrined reproductive rights in our constitution. Further, we attacked the racially-motivated “war on drugs” with a referendum legalizing and regulating recreational marijuana.

                Basically, pretty much everything is progressing nicely, despite your outdated, regressive position on guns.

                Hopefully, you don’t scare enough people with your anti-gun rhetoric into voting for Trump.

                • PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee
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                  1 year ago

                  irrational fear mongering among educators.

                  It’s good of you to accidentally acknowledge that irrational fear is the number one seller of guns and they’d be decimated without it. How many do you own again?

                  But of course we both know that wasn’t your point, you just want to manipulate people into not challenging you. It’s been an explict strategy of the far-right for around 5 years now, so it’s no surprise to see it used for gun laws that inordinately benefit them.

                  I sleep soundly knowing that racially-motivated concealed-carry bans, originating in the former slave states shortly after the civil war

                  Cool fantasy, but the rest of the world solved their civil rights problems sooner and didn’t need to routinely arm criminals, idiots and domestic terrorists to accomplish it.

                  I sleep soundly knowing that US murder rates are a fraction of global rates

                  Damn, you’re really betting a lot on people just not fact checking you.

                  Here is a list of countries by homicide rate. Have a look at the company the U.S keeps around position 50, or the embarrassing collection of countries with a better homicide rate.

                  Then for context, compare the countries with the the best homicide rates to this list of countries by GDP.

                  What a surprise, you’re full of shit. Not only is Americas homicide rate abysmal thanks to people like you arming criminals and turning disagreements into murders, people are much safer in other wealthy countries, all of which have stricter gun laws.

                  This is especially true for minorities, who don’t have people like yourself selling them out to extremists.

                  I am thrilled that the people of Ohio just enshrined reproductive rights in our constitution. Further, we attacked the racially-motivated “war on drugs” with a referendum legalizing and regulating recreational marijuana.

                  Who did you shoot to make it happen? Looks to me like you just voted, then tried to claim other people’s work as the work of guns.

                  Why are your reproductive rights even under attack if all those cool guns prevent your rights being taken away? It wouldn’t have anything to do with the party that takes $16 million in legal bribes from the gun lobby each year would it?

                  It used to only be $8 million a year, but for some mysterious reason it doubled in 2012.

                  Hopefully, you don’t scare enough people with your anti-gun rhetoric into voting for Trump.

                  “Hopefully rejecting men’s advances doesn’t caused you to get raped”

                  • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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                    1 year ago

                    Damn, you’re really betting a lot on people just not fact checking you.

                    My claim was that the US homicide rates are a fraction of global rates. Any US rate less than the global rate proves that claim. Your links support my claim. US rates have consistently been ~2/3 global rates for decades.

                    The rest of your arguments on that point are non-sequitur.

                    You are upset that our rates are not as low as the nations you have cherry picked for low rates. You have focused on one relatively minor factor in which we differ from those other nations (gun rights) and completely ignore the major factors (welfare state, strong poverty controls, strong worker protections, universal healthcare, etc.) that are actually responsible for those lower rates.

                    The lack of correlation between GDP per Capita and US homicide rates just tells us the human cost of not implementing those social programs that Europe enjoys.

                    Looks to me like you just voted, then tried to claim other people’s work as the work of guns.

                    Ohio was once a key swing state. That started to change about 20 years ago. We swung red, and didn’t go back. Our votes on reproductive rights and marijuana should tell you that we aren’t actually as red as we look in national elections. Either the GOP is right on something (that isn’t abortion or drugs, because they are consistently losing on both) or the Democrats have been very wrong on something in Ohio.

                    That something is “guns”. We adopted concealed carry in 2004, and support for guns has only increased since then. For 19 years, Democrats have been alienating the majority position on guns in Ohio, and wondering why the state went red.

                    Florida went the same way, same time frame, same reason.