Supreme Court Rejects Review of Maryland Gun Law, Firearm Permit Applicants Must Present 'Good and Substantial Reason' for Carrying Outside the Home

The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it won't review a ruling that upholds a piece of Maryland legislation requiring applicants looking to own a handgun to show "good and substantial reason" for carrying outside of their home or workplace.

According to the Associated Press, the federal court denied Raymond Woollard and firearms rights group The Second Amendment Foundation, Inc.,'s request for judges to take a second look at the law. Attorney Alan Gura wrote in a court filing that "the Second Amendment has no practical impact beyond the threshold of one's home," as reason to uphold the law, as the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did earlier this year. But a court anywhere else "asserts that the right is equally important outside the home as inside, and should [subject to regulation] be generally accessible to law-abiding individuals," Gura continued in the written statement.

Woollard got a permit to own a firearm in 2002, after a stranger entered his home. He was denied renewal of his license seven years later.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Maryland is one of just a handful of states that observes "may issue" protocol, which grants law enforcement officials the right to deny permits to people who wish to hold a firearm in public. The majority of U.S. states follow a "shall issue" standard, which gives officials the ability to issue permits if the applicant fulfills a set of criteria.

Although the case is one that concerns permit issuance, lawyers from the plaintiff said this issue is part of a larger discussion on the limitations of rights to bear arms outside of a citizen's household.

Earlier in October, Maryland expanded the scope of its gun law limitations to require firearm buyers to be fingerprinted. Additionally, people who have been involuntarily checked into a mental health facility won't be able to own a gun, and 45 specific kinds of assault weapons will soon be banned from public sale.

The state of Maryland does not consider a vague threat or general fear as a substantial rationale for receiving a permit to bear arms, the Associated Press reported.