Maryland Ruling A Huge Victory For Second Amendment

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 Amendments 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'."

"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."

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