Today, the en banc Fourth Circuit upheld Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License (HQL) requirement in Maryland Shall Issue v. Moore, an NRA-supported case.
To acquire a handgun in Maryland, one must first obtain an HQL. Obtaining an HQL requires taking a four-hour class with classroom and live-fire components, which costs several hundred dollars; undergoing a background check that includes submitting a complete set of fingerprints, which the individual must pay for; paying a $50 application fee; and then waiting up to 30 days for the state to process the application. But obtaining the HQL still does not allow one to purchase a handgun. The individual must then undergo an additional background check, wait seven business days, and pass a NICS check before acquiring the firearm.
In November 2023, a 3-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit held the HQL requirement unconstitutional. But the court then vacated that opinion and agreed to rehear the case en banc.
In today’s opinion, the en banc court upheld the HQL requirement. The court held that the HQL requirement does not even implicate the Second Amendment because it is a type of “shall-issue” licensing law, and such a law only “infringes” the right to keep and bear arms if it “effectively denies” the right. The court then determined that a delay of the right does not completely deny the right, and therefore the HQL requirement does not infringe—or even implicate—the right to keep and bear arms.
The plaintiffs will now consider whether to petition the Supreme Court to hear the case.
Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights.
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