US Court of Appeals upholds Maryland's Handgun Qualification License law

In a 14-2 decision on Friday, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that Maryland is allowed to require a Handgun Qualification License (HQL) for the purchase of a firearm.

"This is a great day for Maryland and for common-sense gun safety," says Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.

The court's decision in Maryland Shall Issue v. Wes Moore rejected the argument that the HQL requirement was a violation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

Maryland Shall Issue V. Moore Court of Appeals Decision on Scribd

The HQL is required for most residents of Maryland to purchase a firearm in the state, and the application for one requires the submission of fingerprints, for the applicant to undergo a background check, and to complete a firearms training course.

The HQL law was enacted in 2013, following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.

Recently, Maryland's Assault Weapons Ban was also upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which had also been passed following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook.

"The application for a gun license and the required training and background check, are all critical safety checks," says Brown. "Common-sense gun safety laws protect all Marylanders and can prevent tragedies that leave our communities scarred and broken from ever happening in the first place."

Maryland Shall Issue, the gun rights advocacy group that brought the suit, issued the following statement on its Facebook page, following the ruling:

"The Fourth Circuit today rejected our constitutional challenge to Maryland's Handgun Qualification License requirement, holding that the law did not even infringe on the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. We believe that holding is contrary to controlling Supreme Court precedent and is plainly wrong as a matter of common sense. The majority opinion is, in the words of the dissent, 'baseless.' The petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court practically writes itself."