by The Second Amendment Foundation released this today celebrating their win in Woollard et al v. Sheridan.
MARYLAND RULING A ‘HUGE VICTORY’ FOR SECOND AMENDMENT, SAYS SAF
For Immediate Release: 3/5/2012
BELLEVUE, WA – A federal court ruling in Maryland, that the Second Amendment right to bear arms extends beyond the home and that citizens may not be required to offer a “good and substantial reason” for obtaining a concealed carry permit, is a huge victory, the Second Amendment Foundation said today.
Ruling in the case of Woollard v. Sheridan – a case brought by SAF in July 2010 on behalf of Maryland resident Raymond Woollard, who was denied his carry permit renewal – the U.S. District Court for Maryland ruled that “The Court finds that the right to bear arms is not limited to the home.”
U.S. District Court Judge Benson Everett Legg noted, “In addition to self-defense, the (Second Amendment) right was also understood to allow for militia membership and hunting. To secure these rights, the Second Amendment‘s protections must extend beyond the home: neither hunting nor militia training is a household activity, and ‘self-defense has to take place wherever [a] person happens to be’.”
“This is a monumentally important decision,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The federal district court has carefully spelled out the obvious, that the Second Amendment does not stop at one’s doorstep, but protects us wherever we have a right to be. Once again, SAF’s attorney in this case, Alan Gura, has won an important legal victory. He was the attorney who argued the landmark Heller case, and he represented SAF in our Supreme Court victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago.
“Equally important in Judge Legg’s ruling,” he added, “is that concealed carry statutes that are so discretionary in nature as to be arbitrary do not pass constitutional muster.”
“A citizen may not be required to offer a ‘good and substantial reason’ why he should be permitted to exercise his rights,” Judge Legg wrote. “The right’s existence is all the reason he needs.”
“Judge Legg’s ruling takes a substantial step toward restoring the Second Amendment to its rightful place in the Bill of Rights, and provides gun owners with another significant victory,” Gottlieb concluded. “SAF will continue winning back firearms freedoms one lawsuit at a time.”
This might be a good time as Joe Huffman said to donate to the Brady Campaign’s tequila fund and then real money to the Second Amendment Foundation.
Glad this one went our way, more or less. That said, federal district court has not been good to us lately. MD will appeal. Why? It has been our opposition's strategy from the beginning – delay, deny standing and dodge the fundamental issues however possible. Look at how the City of Chicago still maneuvers after their loss – how many public shooting ranges open in Chicago at this time? None over a year after their loss in Ezell. MD, Chicago and DC are spending other people's money and no one is holding them accountable. Nordyke is looking like Jarndyce and Jarndyce.
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