The rulings in Maryland and Oregon come amid a shifting legal landscape in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that has imposed new limits on gun regulation.
In the wake of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that significantly limits what the government can do to restrict guns, states led by Democrats have scrambled to circumvent or test the limits of the ruling. A few have approved new gun restrictions. Oregon even passed a ballot initiative to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines.
But this week, supporters of the new gun measures suffered a pair of setbacks, underscoring the rippling effect of the court’s decision.
On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va., ruled that a 10-year-old Maryland law related to licensing requirements for handguns was unconstitutional.
Under the Maryland law, an applicant for a handgun license must meet four requirements. They must be at least 21 years old, a resident of the state, complete a gun safety course and undergo a background check to ensure they are not barred under federal or state law from owning a firearm.
An applicant must then fill out an application, pay a processing fee, and wait up to 30 days for a state official to issue a license.
The appeals court ruled that requiring applicants to wait up to 30 days for a handgun permit violated the constitutional rights of citizens, and “the law’s waiting period could well be the critical time in which the applicant expects to face danger.”
They had gun control in the "Wild West." Many towns didn't allow guns within the borders. But even that era that Republicans love so much had too much regulation for them.
Oregon's law was terrible and needed to be overturned ASAP. It basically gave sherriffs, the most ulta-conservative people in the state, the power to decide who did and didn't get guns. The conspiracy minded part of me thinks measure 114 was put on the ballot to set gun control efforts back by 6 to 8 years, and it succeeded.
As a gun owner myself, I support the licensing, the high capacity mags ban won't do a damn thing though. If you've ever seen a 10rd 556 mag it's small as hell and you can stuff lots in pockets and such. It won't stop a damn thing, especially with coward cops who just listen to the action and do nothing.
if that's what it takes then fine but why can't we come up with shit that actually makes sense instead of these 'whatever we can get' stuff. I realize republican trash makes that nigh impossible though. Fucking dumb as hell