 |
| Maryland gubernatorial candidate Doug Gansler speaks to reporters in Chevy Chase |
Former Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, a Democratic candidate for governor, is calling for new legislation to restrict the right to carry a concealed firearm in designated areas. The U.S. Supreme Court recently affirmed concealed carry as a right under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In response to that decision in a New York case, NY Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation on July 1 that would place new barriers and hurdles to acquiring a concealed carry license in that state, and restrict the right to concealed carry in specified locations.
Gansler said he supports passing similar restrictions in Maryland, at a press conference at an early voting site in Chevy Chase Thursday. Areas where licensed citizens would still be prohibited from carrying a concealed weapon in New York state include transit stations and vehicles, parks, theaters, stadiums, museums, bars, casinos, and "sensitive areas" such as Times Square.
Current Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) this past week ordered the Maryland State Police to comply with the Supreme Court directive, making the state a shall-issue jurisdiction. Gansler said Hogan had no choice but to follow the new law, but argued that he should have ensured Maryland had the type of limitations that New York now has.
“We need to have safeguards, because no one wants to have guns in schools, in libraries, on the Metro, on the bus, on playgrounds, at polling places, at places where alcohol is being served,” Gansler said outside the Jane E. Lawton Community Recreation Center, as early voting got underway. “Those are easy to do. For whatever reason, Governor Hogan decided not to do that. We need to have a groundswell of support to make sure that we have limitations in place to keep people safe.”
New York's new restrictions are expected to be challenged in court, as they would make it very difficult to exercise the right to concealed carry from a practical standpoint. The remaining areas where one could carry a firearm are few, and many of the designated areas are precisely where gun rights advocates say an individual would most want a self-defense capability. Gun rights advocates also note that concealed carry license holders have not been shown to be a major source of gun-related crimes in America. “You rarely hear of an instance where a CCL holder is using their firearm in an unlawful manner,” an Illinois State Police spokesman told the Chicago Tribune in 2018. “They’re generally law-abiding citizens, and they’ve gone to great lengths to get to where they’re at to have a CCL. And they’ve taken training to get there. And most of them, they understand what the requirements are to use force to defend themselves.”
