(The Center Square) – One gun-rights group in Maryland is elated with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding self-defense.
The ramifications of the court’s recent decision regarding New York’s gun permit law are being felt across the country, especially in Maryland where the decision would potentially invalidate the long-standing requirement for a permit to carry.
Mark Pennak, president of the Second Amendment advocacy group Maryland Shall Issue, said the most obvious reason for celebration is the “good and substantial reason requirement” for a person to receive a permit to carry a gun is no longer necessary.
“Everybody has a right to self-defense outside the home, and that ‘everybody’ is every law-abiding, responsible citizen,” Pennak told The Center Square.
Maryland Shall Issue is suing the state over that policy, a case that was on hold awaiting the New York ruling, according to a report from U.S. News & World Report. A key part of Maryland’s law is that it allows licensing officials to exercise discretion and requires a special need for the issuance of a permit.
“For self-protection, you have to show a special need, such as you’ve been under threat,” Pennak said. “You have to show documented proof of threats or attacks; your documentation needs to be in the form of police reports or a protective order.”
Most ordinary, law-abiding citizens cannot show such documentation, he said.
Pennak firmly believes the recent high court ruling will mean the abolition of this requirement.
“So no longer can the state police require some special documentation, some special need that they alone get to decide is good enough,” he said.
With the new ruling, citizens will be able to get a permit based on objective criteria like age, a background check, and disqualifying criminal convictions, Pennak said.
Already the Free State is seeing a flood of concealed-carry permit applications, according to Pennak.
He also said that Second Amendment rights advocates can expect a reaction from people who think guns in the hands of the people are dangerous, even though there is no evidence that permits holders to cause any threat to public safety.