A federal appeals court upheld many of Maryland’s gun-control measures in a sweeping opinion that says states can ban firearms in sensitive public places such as schools and hospitals without running afoul of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions expanding the right to bear arms.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled unanimously Tuesday that Maryland’s laws and regulations banning firearms in government buildings, school grounds and health care facilities are constitutional, handing a victory to the state’s Democratic leaders, who defended the measures from a federal lawsuit brought by a group of gun owners and advocacy groups that argued they violated the Second Amendment.
By a 2-1 vote, the appeals panel also upheld Maryland’s prohibition on carrying firearms in public transportation, state parks and forests, stadiums, museums, racetracks, casinos, amusement parks, locations that sell alcoholic beverages, and anywhere within 1,000 feet of a public demonstration.
Writing for the majority, Judge Roger L. Gregory said all of those locations are “sensitive places” where firearms may be banned under the Supreme Court’s gun-rights jurisprudence.
“We must read the right to bear arms in conjunction with the First Amendment’s protection of the right to peaceably assemble,” Gregory wrote in upholding Maryland’s ban on guns at public demonstrations. “Though the right to bear arms surely is ‘not a second-class right,’ neither are the rights to free speech and free assembly.”
Although the court upheld most of the challenged laws, the three judges agreed unanimously that Maryland could not ban guns on private properties that are held open for the public, such as stores, regardless of the property owner’s wishes.
Other federal appellate courts with jurisdiction over California, Illinois and New York have upheld similar gun-control measures in recent years, though they have differed at times on what constitutes a sensitive place. The Fourth Circuit’s rulings can be applied across Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia.
“The Fourth Circuit affirmed what common sense — and our Constitution — already makes clear: we can protect the Second Amendment while also protecting Marylanders from the heightened dangers of guns in places like schools, hospitals, public transportation, parks, and other spaces where families should be able to live, learn, and move about safely,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said in a statement Tuesday.
The legal battle began after the Supreme Court said in a 2022 case, N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, that gun-control measures are presumptively unconstitutional unless they are rooted in the nation’s “historical tradition.” That ruling touched off a still-ongoing debate in the lower courts about how far back a gun-control measure must have been enshrined to qualify as a historical tradition, with some scholars and judges saying only restrictions from the time of the nation’s founding are permissible.
In the case before the Fourth Circuit, Judge G. Steven Agee agreed that Maryland could ban guns in school grounds, health care facilities and government buildings, but said the bans covering public transit, state parks and forests, places of amusement and liquor vendors should have been struck down as unconstitutional.
“The Supreme Court articulated a narrow exception to allow governments to restrict individuals’ Second Amendment rights in ‘sensitive places,’ ” Agee wrote in a partial dissent. “Maryland’s laws would convert that exception into a broad license to prohibit firearms in locations where people gather for almost any purpose so long as those purposes are separately listed to give the appearance of limited scope.”
He said it was hard to imagine the Founding Fathers intended to ban guns in all public forests. Maryland allows regulated hunting and target-shooting in some of those locations. “The signers of the Constitution and proponents of the Bill of Rights would surely consider prohibitions on carrying firearms on such expansive and uninhabited public lands ludicrous,” Agee said.
Gregory received a recess appointment to the appeals court from President Bill Clinton and was then nominated to his seat by President George W. Bush. His opinion was joined in full by Chief Judge Albert Diaz, a nominee of President Barack Obama. Agee was nominated by Bush.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs challenging Maryland’s gun laws did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The challengers could seek to have Tuesday’s ruling reviewed by all active members of the Fourth Circuit or seek an appeal at the Supreme Court.
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