![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/SAFLogo-300x116.jpg\" "\\"SAFLogo\\"")
BELLEVUE, WA \u2013 A federal court ruling in Maryland, that the Second Amendment right to bear arms extends beyond the home and that citizens may not be required to offer a \u201cgood and substantial reason\u201d for obtaining a concealed carry permit, is a huge victory, the Second Amendment Foundation said today.<\/p>\n
Ruling in the case of Woollard v. Sheridan \u2013 a case brought by SAF in July 2010 on behalf of Maryland resident Raymond Woollard, who was denied his carry permit renewal \u2013 the U.S. District Court for Maryland ruled that \u201cThe Court finds that the right to bear arms is not limited to the home.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. District Court Judge Benson Everett Legg noted, \u201cIn addition to self-defense, the (Second Amendment) right was also understood to allow for militia membership and hunting. To secure these rights, the Second Amendment\u2018s protections must extend beyond the home: neither hunting nor militia training is a household activity, and \u2018self-defense has to take place wherever [a] person happens to be\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a monumentally important decision,\u201d said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. \u201cThe federal district court has carefully spelled out the obvious, that the Second Amendment does not stop at one\u2019s doorstep, but protects us wherever we have a right to be. Once again, SAF\u2019s attorney in this case, Alan Gura, has won an important legal victory. He was the attorney who argued the landmark Heller case, and he represented SAF in our Supreme Court victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago.<\/p>\n
\u201cEqually important in Judge Legg\u2019s ruling,\u201d he added, \u201cis that concealed carry statutes that are so discretionary in nature as to be arbitrary do not pass constitutional muster.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA citizen may not be required to offer a \u2018good and substantial reason\u2019 why he should be permitted to exercise his rights,\u201d Judge Legg wrote. \u201cThe right\u2019s existence is all the reason he needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJudge Legg\u2019s ruling takes a substantial step toward restoring the Second Amendment to its rightful place in the Bill of Rights, and provides gun owners with another significant victory,\u201d Gottlieb concluded. \u201cSAF will continue winning back firearms freedoms one lawsuit at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n