The Supreme Court refused to reaffirm the individual right to bear arms outside the home. The Maryland gun control law stands.
Supreme Court Rejects Cases on Obama Eligibility, Gun Rights
Supreme Court Rejects Cases on Obama Eligibility, Gun Rights
The Supreme Court case is Charles Williams v. Maryland, No. 10-1207.Gun rights: The high court refused to consider whether an individual's right to own guns includes carrying a firearm outside the home, staying out of one of the nation's most divisive social, political and legal issues.
The justices let stand a ruling from Maryland's highest court that upheld a state law prohibiting the carrying of a handgun without a permit outside of one's home.
The court turned down the opportunity to define the reach of its landmark 2008 ruling that the constitutional right to keep and bear arms applies to individuals and allows them to use guns for lawful purposes such as self-defense in the home.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that gun rights apply not only to federal laws but also to state and city statutes. The court's rulings in the gun cases have been closely divided, by 5-4 votes and split along conservative and liberal lines.