Liberty Slowly Creeps Northward

Alan Gura and the Second Amendment Foundation have struck again, this time in Maryland. Fox News has the story. From Fox News:

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."

Marylanders have been fighting this for a long time. It seems that at every level of State government, the attitude has been to fight tooth and nail to maintain its supposed monopoly on the use of force, but refuse to provide security for citizens who may be danger. The hypocrisy of the State's position has been breathtaking in its chutzpah.  While the Governor of Maryland goes about with armed body guards like an emperor, and State and local police are armed to the teeth, the average citizen can not usually get a permit,even if a woman has had documented death threats against her.  A "good and substantial" reason typically has not been good and substantial enough.

Typical of Marylanders' frustration with the law in Maryland pertaining to carry permits are the commenters to Red Maryland. I especially liked this comment from warpmine:

The CCW permit for criminals is one that is a Don't ask don't tell honorary law of the jungle. Criminals generally use their weapons for aggression rather than self protection and when they hunt, it's usually human beings that are the bounty.

Maryland liberal logic mandates that only criminals should have the opportunity to carry a fire arm forcing the law abiding citizens to fear for their lives.

Having lost, the State Attorney General plans to appeal.  I don't have any insight into what the AG's strategy or thinking may be, but I suspect it is a delaying tactic.  But remember that a right delayed is a right denied.  How many more victims will the State have on its conscience as it tries to maintain the fiction that they, and they alone, have a monopoly on force in the State.

Update:  Dave Kopel has more analysis over at the Volokh Conspiracy.