SAF JOINS AMICUS BRIEF ASKING HIGH COURT REVIEW OF MARYLAND CASE

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation has joined in an amicus brief in support of a case that challenges a Maryland gun control law and the federal court ruling that upholds the law by essentially distorting the meaning and intent of the 2008 Heller Ruling that defined the Second Amendment as protective of an individual right to keep and bear arms in common use.

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The case is known as Kolbe v. Hogan. SAF has joined the Cato Institute, Independence Institute and National Sheriffs’ Association in filing the brief, asking that the Supreme Court of the United States take the case for review when it returns in October. “Our interest in this case is guided by the belief that government cannot prohibit whole classes of firearms, including semiautomatic sport-utility rifles, that are in common use by private citizens and civilian law enforcement,” explained SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. ‘But in Maryland, they want to do exactly that. It’s almost as if they either don’t understand Heller, but are deliberately ignoring what was explained clearly by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.” As the brief explains, “Maryland’s firearm and ammunition restrictions stem from a misunderstanding of firearms that are in common use by citizens and law enforcement agencies. Most sheriffs and deputies carry semi-automatic handguns with magazines larger than 10 rounds that are banned in Maryland; many patrol vehicles carry a rifle that is banned in Maryland. Classifying typical sheriffs’ arms as ‘weapons of war’ alienates the public from law enforcement. Among the many harmful consequences: when a deputy uses deadly force, people will say that he or she used a military weapon. This is inflammatory, and false.” “This is just one of several Second Amendment questions we believe the high court needs to address,” Gottlieb said. “There is also the question of bearing arms outside the home for personal protection. These constitutional issues must be addressed, and we’d rather it be sooner than later.”

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