Maryland Saw Seven-Fold Increase In Concealed Carry Permit Applications

Op-ed Contributor

Bronson Winslow on February 6, 2023

The number of concealed carry permit applications in Maryland increased seven-fold following a landmark Supreme Court decision in June, according to a local USA Today outlet, Herald Mail Media.

From June to December, applications increased by 5,283 to 79,983 with a total of 85,266, according to Herald Mail Media. There has been an increase in gun laws in the U.S. since the Supreme Court ruled in the New York State Rifle And Pistol Association v. Bruen case, which established a precedent for gun laws in the United States and established the need for historical tradition in court decisions regarding Second Amendment matters.

The decision struck down New York’s concealed carry law, as well as Marylands  ‘good and substantial’ concealed carry law, saying it violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.


Gov Larry Hogan orders state police to suspend requirement people show “good and substantial reason” to get a wear/carry gun permit.
Follows SCOTUS ruling in NY case pic.twitter.com/m3eHKoxuEf

— Jayne Miller (@jemillerbalt) July 5, 2022

“We conclude that this ruling requires that we now hold Maryland’s ‘good and substantial reason’ requirement unconstitutional. And were the similarities between this requirement and New York’s now stricken proper cause requirement not self-evident enough, the Bruen Court expressly noted that Maryland was one of six states to ‘have analogues to the ‘proper cause’ standards,” Chief Justice Gregory Wells wrote on behalf of the appellate panel.

The “good and substantial reason” law required applicants to provide a “good and substantial reason” to either wear, carry or transport a handgun.

The 85,266 applications are more than a seven-fold increase compared to 12,189 applications received in 2021 and 11,512 received in 2020. Of the 85,266 applications, less than 2,000 were denied, according to Herald Mail Media.

Many gun laws were challenged and changed following the NYSRPA v. Bruen ruling, with laws in New York, California, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Illinois receiving scrutiny from legislators and activists, as many said they were unconstitutional under the new precedent.

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