Category Archives: Second Amendment

A federal judge has struck down a Maryland law barring residents from receiving handgun permits unless they have a good and substantial reason, in an opinion that gun rights advocates celebrated Monday as a monumentally important decision.

U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg ruled that the law violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms by requiring residents seeking concealed-carry permits to submit evidence showing that they face specific threats of violence outside their homes.

Judge Legg ruled that states are indeed allowed to place certain restrictions on gun permits to improve public safety, but Maryland law acts as an illegal rationing system that tries to simply reduce the number of guns in public without regard to an applicants fitness to carry a firearm.

A citizen may not be required to offer a good and substantial reason why he should be permitted to exercise his rights, he wrote in his opinion, which was issued Monday in Baltimore. The rights existence is all the reason he needs.

The lawsuit was filed by plaintiff Raymond Woollard, a Baltimore County man who received a gun permit in 2003, months after a home break-in that led to an armed altercation.

Mr. Woollard successfully renewed the permit in 2006, but his 2009 renewal application was denied by Maryland State Police and the states Handgun Permit Review Board on the grounds that he could not provide documents to verify threats occurring beyond his residence.

His lawsuit, filed in 2010 against state police and the review board, was backed by the Second Amendment Foundation, a Bellevue, Wash.-based gun rights advocacy group.

The state attorney general's office, which represented the defendants in the case, said it will appeal the ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In his ruling, Judge Legg notably cited two Supreme Court precedents 2008s District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the court ruled that the Second Amendment may extend to public places, and 2010s McDonald v. City of Chicago, in which the justices ruled that such a decision also should apply in states as it did in the District, which is a federal enclave.

Both cases were won by lawyer Alan Gura, who also represented Mr. Woollard and the Second Amendment Foundation.

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Maryland's 'good reason' gun law voided

BALTIMORE Maryland residents do not have to provide a "good and substantial reason" to legally own a handgun, a federal judge ruled Monday, striking down as unconstitutional the state's requirements for getting a permit.

U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg wrote that states are allowed some leeway in deciding the way residents exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms, but Maryland's objective was to limit the number of firearms that individuals could carry, effectively creating a rationing system that rewarded those who provided the right answer for wanting to own a gun.

"A citizen may not be required to offer a 'good and substantial reason' why he should be permitted to exercise his rights," Legg wrote. "The right's existence is all the reason he needs."

But state Assistant Attorney General Matthew Fader vowed to appeal the ruling.

We disagree with this ruling," Fader said in a written statement that noted the "very important implications of the ruling for public safety."

Plaintiff Raymond Woollard obtained a handgun permit after fighting with an intruder in his Hampstead home in 2002, but was denied a renewal in 2009 because he could not show he had been subject to "threats occurring beyond his residence."

Woollard appealed, but his appeal was rejected by the review board, which found he hadn't demonstrated a "good and substantial reason" to carry a handgun as a reasonable precaution. The suit filed in 2010 claimed that Maryland didn't have a reason to deny the renewal and wrongly put the burden on Woollard to show why he still needed to carry a gun.

"People have the right to carry a gun for self-defense and don't have to prove that there's a special reason for them to seek the permit," said his attorney Alan Gura, who has challenged handgun bans in the District of Columbia and Chicago as an attorney with the Second Amendment Foundation. "We're not against the idea of a permit process, but the licensing system has to acknowledge that there's a right to bear arms."

In his ruling, Legg wrote that Second Amendment protections aren't limited to the household.

"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 Amendment's 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,'" Legg wrote.

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Judge Rules Gun Owners Need Not Provide Reason

BALTIMORE (AP)-A federal judge has ruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is not limited to the home and Maryland's handgun permit law is unconstitutional. In an opinion filed Monday, U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg says a requirement that residents show a "good and substantial reason" to carry a handgun infringes on people's rights. Plaintiff Raymond Woollard obtained a handgun permit after fighting with an intruder in his home in 2002, but his renewal was denied in 2009 because he could not show he was subject to "threats occurring beyond his residence." The Second Amendment FoundatioA federal judge has ruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is not limited to the home and Maryland's handgun permit law is unconstitutional. In an opinion filed Monday, U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg says a requirement that residents show a "good and substantial reason" to carry a handgun infringes on people's rights. Plaintiff Raymond Woollard obtained a handgun permit after fighting with an intruder in his home in 2002, but his renewal was denied in 2009 because he could not show he was subject to "threats occurring beyond his residence." The Second Amendment Foundation, which brought the suit on Woollard's behalf, calls the ruling a major victory. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence says it goes out of the norm and likely be reversed.n, which brought the suit on Woollard's behalf, calls the ruling a major victory. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence says it goes out of the norm and likely be reversed.

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Md. Gun Law Found Unconstitutional

To: LEGAL AFFAIRS AND NATIONAL EDITORS

BELLEVUE, Wash., March 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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 Amendment's 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.'"

"This is a monumentally important decision," said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. "The federal district court has carefully spelled out the obvious, that the Second Amendment does not stop at one's doorstep, but protects us wherever we have a right to be. Once again, SAF's attorney in this case, Alan Gura, has won an important legal victory. He was the attorney who argued the landmark Heller case, and he represented SAF in our Supreme Court victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago."

"Equally important in Judge Legg's ruling," he added, "is that concealed carry statutes that are so discretionary in nature as to be arbitrary do not pass constitutional muster."

"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."

"Judge Legg's ruling takes a substantial step toward restoring the Second Amendment to its rightful place in the Bill of Rights, and provides gun owners with another significant victory," Gottlieb concluded. "SAF will continue winning back firearms freedoms one lawsuit at a time."

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF won the landmark Supreme Court case in McDonald v. City of Chicago that incorporated the Second Amendment to the states.

SOURCE Second Amendment Foundation

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Maryland Ruling a 'Huge Victory' for Second Amendment, Says SAF

If President Obama wins a second term, he will finally endorse same-sex marriage. Gay rights groups are almost certain. He will also make a new, historic effort to fight climate change environmentalists are pretty sure.

And Obama will finally do just what the Congressional Black Caucus wants. According to some members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Conservative groups are equally confident that Obama, freed from the fear of losing his reelection bid, would deliver on far-reaching left-wing dreams. GOP candidate Mitt Romney forecasts a runaway spending spree. Newt Gingrich envisions a war on the Catholic Church. The National Rifle Association predicts a crackdown on gun owners.

The funny thing about all this is: Obama himself hasnt said hell do any of it.

In his speeches over the first few months of his reelection campaign the president has only sketched out a vague agenda for his next term. He wants to fix the immigration system. Put his health-care law into practice. Rebuild infrastructure. Revive manufacturing.

And, he told an audience in San Francisco, in what might be called a flourish of the obvious, were going to have to figure out how to pay for all this stuff.

This disconnect highlights one of the most unusual factors in an unusual campaign: Even after three years in office, Obama remains a political Rorschach test. His friends still project their brightest hopes on him. His enemies still project their deepest nightmares.

Both are still convinced they havent seen the real Obama yet or the real Obama agenda.

And so, paradoxically, they believe the most important ideas of Obamas reelection campaign are the ones hes not talking about.

All that first-term lip service to gun owners is part of a massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters, NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre said during the Conservative Political Action Conference. And hide his true intentions to destroy the Second Amendment during his second term! His evidence was Obamas past views on gun control, and his appointment of two Supreme Court justices the NRA considers hostile.

Read more here:
Obama allies, foes speculate on a big — and hypothetical — second-term agenda

Poll workers ensure reliable vote totals

In his Feb. 28 letter Richard Eime complains about the honesty and accuracy of the voting process and the poor choices available among the Republican candidates. I would like to address the first issue; I cant offer any comfort with the second.

I work in an election poll in Easton. The 14-hour Election Day starts at least a half hour before the polls open at 7 a.m. and extends more than a half hour after they close at 8 p.m.

After years of doing this I can assure Eime that I have never seen a single case of votes being counted unfairly. Northampton Countys touch-screen voting machines are not easily manipulated. They print out vote totals on paper tapes at the end of the day that are just as believable and more legible than the paper printouts from the old mechanical machines. The numbers are checked by the poll workers and poll watchers representing both political parties as well as candidates.

Eimes cynical comments are based on ignorance. If he can obtain a watchers certificate for his polling place in Pen Argyl and observe the process after the polls close, he may develop new respect for the hard- working crew that treats every vote as important, including his.

ANNE M. HOGENBOOM Easton

Students cant afford birth control? Get a job

Recently Sandra Fluke, a law student at Georgetown University, testified before House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi about contraception. She indicated she can look at the faces of women on her campus and detect anxiety and distress. She claims these maladies are born of the fact these women cannot afford any form of birth control.

I would suggest they get part-time jobs, or better yet put the onus on the male partner to pony up for condoms.

Her testimony leads me to feel she wants all of us to fund her protection so she and her fellow students can pursue this lifestyle unencumbered by any monetary worries that may distract from their studies.

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Election workers go the distance to ensure accurate results; Second Amendment just fine as it is - March 3 letters to ...

DES MOINES - Iowa's guns rights would be among the strongest in the nation, under a proposed state constitutional amendment that cleared the Iowa House this week.

Democrats say the measure would eventually allow people to bring guns into Iowa's schools, the Capitol and other public buildings. That concerns county officials.

"I think one of the concerns for counties is in our courthouses where there are emotional situations, what that could lead to, particularly domestic disputes," said Sioux County Supervisor Mark Sybesma. "In our treasurer's office, a lot of times people come in very disgruntled - emotions and that type of thing. Guns sometimes aren't the best mix."

The number of Iowa gun permit holders has soared from about 40,000 to 100,000 over the past year, according to data from the Iowa Department of Public Safety. The increase came after a state law took effect in January 2011 that made Iowa a "shall issue" instead of a "may issue" state for weapons permits, largely taking away sheriffs' discretion of whether to issue those permits.

County sheriffs decided Thursday to oppose the latest move by state lawmakers to put the Second Amendment right to bear arms in the Iowa Constitution. They said the constitutional amendment would do away with the state's permitting and regulation of weapons altogether.

"We're not sure why it's necessary to move this next step so soon because we're not sure that's where Iowans want to be," said Susan Cameron, a lobbyist for the Iowa State Sheriffs' and Deputies' Association, which represents law enforcement in Iowa's 99 counties. "It goes far beyond the U.S. Constitution and what other states have done."

The Iowa House this week rejected using the wording found in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and instead voted 61-37 for an amendment to the state constitution that says Iowans have a fundamental right to "acquire, keep, possess, transport, carry, transfer and use arms to defend life and liberty and for all other legitimate purposes" that cannot be infringed upon or denied.

House Joint Resolution 2009 also would prohibit mandatory licensing, registration and special taxation of firearms.

Cameron said while the resolution itself does not strike down Iowa gun laws, it would likely lead the courts to strike down gun laws that are challenged in court. She said the constitutional amendment would make it difficult to regulate the possession or carrying of guns in any way.

"That just really unravels any kind of regulation over firearms going forward, once anything is challenged in court," Cameron said. "Our sheriffs tell us that they're not hearing from their constituents that this is what they want. We did not feel like there was a problem in Iowa with people being able to get weapons."

The rest is here:
County sheriffs oppose adding Second Amendment to Iowa Constitution

Obama stands tall in foreign policy

Considering the little worries that can keep me awake at night, I cannot imagine the stress President Obama must feel as he faces major foreign policy decisions.

Take Iran, for example. Should the U. S. launch a preemptive attack on Irans nuclear facilities to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons? That would be an act of war with unpredictable consequences.

Should we encourage Israel to attack Iran instead? Again, it could mean war with us being drawn into it. But doing nothing may entail consequences just as grim. Is there a diplomatic way out?

Thankfully we have a president with the maturity and intelligence to consult with the best Middle East experts, listen to their advice, encourage dissenting views and finally choose the path that is in the best long-term interests of the country, as he did when the SEALs went after Osama bin Laden. What a contrast with Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, who convinced themselves that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction!

And how fortunate we are that after determining the best course, Obama has the courage to take the necessary action despite the sniping from his critics, including the pathetic group of Republican presidential candidates who approach all foreign policy issues with belligerent ignorance.

JON MARKLEY Easton

Leaders of Islam should condemn violent backlash

I understand President Obamas attempt to assuage Muslim leaders outrage concerning the burning of several Qurans in Afghanistan recently. The violent, militant extremist groups representing Islam in Afghanistan reacted to the accidental burning with violent attacks that killed several Americans.

I can understand outrage about someone destroying a religions holy books. However, it overwhelms my feelings of compassion when these extremists kill and destroy because of something like burning a Quran.

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Obama showing steady hand in foreign policy; Second Amendment needs 21st-century reworking - March 2 letters to the ...

Feb 29, 2012 4:24pm

UPDATE at 5:30 p.m. ET: A campaign spokesman says Romney has two shotguns.

COLUMBUS, Ohio At a town hall here, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said, in response to a question about gun control, I have guns myself.

I believe in the second amendment, Ill protect the second amendment, I have guns myself, Romney said today at the town hall meeting at Capital University. Not going to tell you where they are. Dont have them on myself either, alright.

But in 2007 after Romney claimed that he did have guns he later retracted his statement, saying that he himself does not have guns but his sons do.

During a virtual debate with the Boston Globe in 2007 Romney said, I have a gun of my own. I go hunting myself. Im a member of the NRA and believe firmly in the right to bear arms, to which the interview corrected him, Ah, excuse me, but isnt that son Joshs gun?

Romney responded, Um, well, yes, but so what? He has several guns out at our vacation place in Utah, and I use them from time to time.

So, did Mitt Romney buy a gun in the last five years?

The campaign did not immediately respond to a request for a comment as to whether Romney does now own his own firearms.

He did at the town hall meeting today offer this explanation for why people should be able to buy guns.

Continue reading here:
Did Mitt Romney Buy Some Guns?

By P.J. REILLY Staff Writer

Supervisors from two townships on Wednesday asked the Lancaster County Board of Elections to reverse polling place changes made last year in their municipalities.

Part of the reason they want the changes undone is so voters can exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear firearms.

Duane Sellers, chairman of the Martic Township board of supervisors, asked the Election Board to move the township's polling place from Martic Elementary School back to Mount Nebo United Methodist Church.

And Conestoga Township Supervisor Steve Charles requested his township's polling place revert back to Conestoga Volunteer Fire Company, reversing last year's move to Conestoga Elementary School.

Both men said their constituents want the old polling places restored for a variety of reasons, including the fact that they cannot legally carry guns onto school property.

"It's not really so much that I want to carry that day, it's that it's another right that's trying to be eroded," Sellers said.

Conestoga resident Dan Behmer told the Election Board he's a law-abiding citizen who doesn't like being unarmed.

"I don't want to go to the polls with an M-1 strapped to my side," he said. "That's not the condition. The condition is you disarm me for one whole day, and I do not appreciate that."

The two polling places were moved to the elementary schools in October after Penn Manor School District Superintendent Michael Leichliter answered a call from the county commissioners who were seeking more local schools for polling places.

Continued here:
Gun carriers want old polling places