Like That When I Got Here

A guy came into work the other day and regaled me with his elaborate plans to build a flamethrower that shoots ball bearings. This is dedicated to him.

Like That When I Got Here  (01:19)

Decision in Woollard v. Sheridan

The Maryland District Court has just handed down a decision [pdf] in the Woollard case granting the plaintiff summary judgement. You can catch up on the background here. The meat of the decision is that Maryland's standard for issuance of carry permits is too strict and arbitrary to pass constitutional muster.

From the opinion:

The Court finds that Maryland’s requirement of a “good and substantial reason” for issuance of a handgun permit is insufficiently tailored to the State’s interest in public safety and crime prevention. The law impermissibly infringes the right to keep and bear arms, guaranteed by the Second Amendment.

Judge Legg maintains that the right to carry outside the home is only covered by intermediate scrutiny, but this is a step forward.

At bottom, this case rests on a simple proposition: If the Government wishes to burden a right guaranteed by the Constitution, it may do so provided that it can show a satisfactory justification and a sufficiently adapted method. The showing, however, is always the Government‘s to make. A citizen may not be required to offer a "good and substantial reason"why he should be permitted to exercise his rights. The right‘s existence is all the reason he needs. [p. 20]

This is the first opinion to phrase the idea in such clear and forceful language.