Police in this blue state will continue enforcing 'draconian' handgun law ruled unconstitutional by court

[useapen]

Maryland State Police will continue enforcing the state's handgun law for
now, despite a federal appeals court ruling that the licensing requirement
is unconstitutional.

"At this time, the HQL law remains in effect and there are no immediate
changes in the process to purchase a firearm in Maryland," the department
wrote in an agency-wide advisory after last week's ruling.

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Maryland's Handgun Qualification License (HQL) requires applicants to
submit fingerprints for a background check, take a four-hour firearm
safety course with a live fire component, and wait up to 30 days for
approval before purchasing a handgun, which then requires another
application and seven-day waiting period.

Last Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled 2-1 that the law is overly "burdensome" and cannot stand under the
2022 landmark Supreme Court decision that a firearm regulation is
unconstitutional unless the government can prove it is consistent with the
nation's historical tradition.

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"The challenged law restricts the ability of law-abiding adult citizens to
possess handguns, and the state has not presented a historical analogue
that justifies its restriction; indeed, it has seemingly admitted that it
couldn’t find one," Judge Julius Richardson, a Trump appointee, wrote in
the court's majority opinion.

But the Maryland State Police's licensing division said it will continue
enforcing the law until the federal court issues a mandate.

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Maryland officials have 14 days to file for a rehearing before the full
appeals court. If the state does not file within that window, the court
will issue a mandate seven days later, which means the final court ruling
would be Dec. 11, Fox45 News reported.

Officials have not yet confirmed whether they plan to file for a rehearing
or, alternatively, seek a review before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement that he would "continue to
fight for this law" and that his administration was evaluating its
options.

Similarly, a spokesperson for Attorney General Anthony Brown told Fox45
News that they were "weighing options for next steps."

The NRA previously described Maryland's HQL as a "draconian process" and
praised the Fourth Circuit ruling as a "significant victory, for the
Second Amendment and Americans who value constitutional freedoms."

"Striking down Maryland's oppressive Handgun Qualification License
requirement affirms that the burdensome process infringes on the rights of
the law-abiding," the NRA's lobbying arm executive director Randy Kozuch
told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital’s Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/police-blue-state-continue-enforcing-
draconian-handgun-law-ruled-unconstitutional-court