Posted on 07/26/2012 8:25:06 AM PDT by marktwain
Patch readers across the region spoke out, to the tune of more more than 340 comments, when it was reported Tuesday that a U.S. District Court judge declared Maryland's gun permitting process unconstitutional. The ruling will relax the handgun permitting process in Maryland.
"People believe the Second Amendment gives Americans the right to keep and bear arms. Actually, it protects their fundamental right to keep and bear arms," Carroll County Commissioner Richard Rothschild told Patch. "Our forefathers understood that arms provide citizens with the means to secure their lives, their liberty, and their property."
On Monday, Judge Benson Everett Legg ruled that the requirement to show "good or substantial reason to wear, carry or transport a handgun" is unconstitutional.
Legg's ruling, which goes into effect on Aug. 7, addresses the part of Maryland state law requiring that those seeking a permit to carry a gun must have "a good or substantial reason to wear, carry, or transport a handgun, such as a finding that the permit is necessary as a reasonable precaution against apprehended danger."
Westminster Police Chief Jeffrey Spaulding, with more than 35 years experience as a police officer, said he doesn't expect the ruling to change police procedures in any dramatic way.
"The difference is that a citizen would not have to demonstrate a 'good or substantial reason' to obtain a permit," Spaulding said. "In essence, anyone not disqualified from possessing a firearm, such as convicted felons or those diagnosed as mentally ill, would potentially be eligible to obtain a permit."
But Spaulding did say that more guns on the street can equal more danger on the street.
"It would be expected that more handguns will be encountered in the field, always a potentially dangerous situation for a police officer," Spaulding said. "While many will be technically qualified to obtain a handgun permit, not everyone who is 'qualified' will have the temperament and technical competence to carry and store a handgun in a safe manner."
Rothschild said that, "In reality, the Second Amendment is a restriction against government." He said he applauds Legg for defending the Second Amendment Constitutional rights of citizens.
It is significant that a Maryland politician makes this point.
“In reality, the Second Amendment is a restriction against government.”
Amen, brother.
Wow! In Maryland of all places! Let’s hope Romeny puts this judge on the Supreme Court where he clearly belongs!!!
</sarcasm tag for the idiots>
“In reality,the Second Amendment is a restriction against government.”
That’s the whole point isn’t it?
How come Marxists can't come up with occasional new lies? For people who claim to be our moral and intellectual betters, they sure do seem to have trouble telling credible or new lies.
‘Westminster Police Chief Jeffrey Spaulding, with more than 35 years experience as a police officer, said he doesn’t expect the ruling to change police procedures in any dramatic way.
“The difference is that a citizen would not have to demonstrate a ‘good or substantial reason’ to obtain a permit,” Spaulding said. “In essence, anyone not disqualified from possessing a firearm, such as convicted felons or those diagnosed as mentally ill, would potentially be eligible to obtain a permit.”
But Spaulding did say that more guns on the street can equal more danger on the street.’
More swill from the thin skinned line. I suspect nothing will change and every application will be met w/ dithering and foot dragging. If more guns on the streets = more danger I call on the chief to disarm his force. After all by his logic that would make things safer. Im sure the dogs would agree.
It sounds like he’s over in Western Maryland which is very conservative. The state, however, is dominated buy the Baltimore/Washington Corridor of lefty idiots.
So should I apply now or wait until 8/7? I’ve had an XD40 for four years here in the peoples republic. I’ve read on some shooting forums that the applications submitted after the initial decision by the judge have been put on ice until the appeal process is done...
But Spaulding did say that more guns on the street can equal more danger on the street.
“It would be expected that more handguns will be encountered in the field, always a potentially dangerous situation for a police officer,”
It just so happens there is no factual basis to back up his claims. The “can” and “potentially” theories, have no point of reference.
Here is a website that discusses the issues.
http://www.pagunblog.com/2012/07/24/breaking-news-in-maryland-on-concealed-carry/
Well down the page is a web site and phone number for a business that is willing to help.
The western 2/3rds of Carroll County, MD is to the right of Texas. It’s been a Republican bastion since the 1980s. I should know. I live there. Rothschilds is the best commissioner that we’ve had in decades, though. The local fishwrapper (the Carroll County Times) hates his guts.
MD is a funny animal. The vast majority of counties here are dominated by Republicans. You don't even have to go too far west. 10 miles west of the I-95 corridor you'd think that you were in some rock-ribbed southern Republican stronghold. Even 20 years of exporting rich white liberal Baltmoreans to the far suburbs hasn't changed things much. But there aren't enough of us in the whole remainder of the state to overpower the welfare vote in Balitimore City and the federal worker vote in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.
Yes, you’re correct. I left there for good in ‘86, but still have family there. I go over to Ocean City when I can, but for the most part avoid the state. Hell, I even went to the same high school as O’Malley, but we all know what he is. The place scares me, especially the DC area.
Wow! A county commissioner in the People’s Republic of Maryland who actually understands the US Constitution. How did he slip through and can he be re-elected?
Cop Spaulding is your typical circle-the-wagons us vs. them cop. More guns is a danger to cops. No, dillweed. More guns is a danger to criminals, butthead. I’m not saying your typical cop is against guns in the hands of citizens as it varies by state and county, but sounds like a typical Maryland cop.
But the termites are at work on the liberal edifice here, and good things are afoot. Time will tell.
Carroll County has been strongly Republican since the '80s. We've had a mixed bag of commissioners but I can't recall the last anti-gun one. Rothschild has a good shot at re-election.
Yeah, my family just sold my late parents’ home in Ocean Pines basically for the appraised value of the waterfront lot. That was my last link to Maryland aside from 2 of my sisters. Everyone I know who can get out is doing so - before they electrify the fence.
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