Calling the ruling an "unmapped" legal issue, attorneys for the state argue in a motion filed late Wednesday that clarification from the appellate courts "would be prudent in light of the potentially significant adverse consequences for public safety."
Every state AG in a "shall-issue" state should immediately file an amicus brief testifying to the "mappedness" of this issue. That, or the judge ought to dismiss the motion as frivolous and time-consuming to no discernable effect.
They quoted an opinion from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in a different case: "We do not wish to be even minutely responsible for some unspeakably tragic act of mayhem because in the peace of our judicial chambers we miscalculated as to Second Amendment rights."*
In that case you'd better back off before some criminal illegally carrying a handgun shoots down some law-abiding citizen who can't get a gun permit because some county sheriff doesn't see a "good and substantial" reason to let him have one.
Yeah, Maryland's still got a long way to go before it can join the ranks of the civilized states.
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* Interestingly, this quote is from US v. Masciandaro, which as far as I can tell was superseded by McDonald v. Chicago, in which the Supreme Court incorporated the 2nd Amendment as binding on the states...meaning that the point being made so emotionally is, to all intents and purposes, moot.
* Interestingly, this quote is from US v. Masciandaro, which as far as I can tell was superseded by McDonald v. Chicago, in which the Supreme Court incorporated the 2nd Amendment as binding on the states...meaning that the point being made so emotionally is, to all intents and purposes, moot.
