Frosh Defends State Law Regulating Carrying Fire Arms

Coalition Defends Constitutionality of Licensing Laws

By Aujunai Charpentiair

BALTIMORE, MD (June 13, 2018) – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today joined
a coalition of attorneys general in filing an amicus brief defending the constitutionality of a
Massachusetts gun law preventing individuals from carrying a firearm in public unless they
demonstrate an individualized need to do so

General Frosh. “The laws in place in Maryland protect our citizens and are completely in accord
with the Constitution.”

Filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the brief notes that widespread public carrying of firearms has been shown to increase violent crime and homicide. Moreover, between 2007 and 2016, concealed-carry permit holders shot and killed at least 17 law enforcement officers along with more than 800 private citizens.

The coalition’s amicus brief explains that allowing widespread public carrying of firearms poses
risks from civilians “without sufficient training to use and maintain control of their weapons,”
and would force members of law enforcement “to take extra precautions … effectively treating
encounters between police and the community that are now routine, friendly and trusting as highrisk
stops.”

“This is why (state) legislatures and law enforcement have … opted to strike a permissible
balance between granting handgun permits to those persons known to be in need of selfprotection
and precluding a dangerous proliferation of handguns on the streets,” the brief notes.

“To be sure, multiple other states chose to adopt unlimited public carry laws, but the Constitution
embraces the right of each state to make different choices based on local needs,” the brief
asserts. “Simply put, state legislatures have the power to decide how best to address the carrying
of guns in public, and nothing in the Second Amendment is to the contrary.”
The amicus is led by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal. In addition to Maryland,
the brief was signed by attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii,
Illinois, Iowa, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.