Professors,
I was writing a blog post for the Tenth Amendment Center and came across something I thought I would ask.
Carroll County Maryland recently passed a resolution supporting the 2nd Amendment against the state of Maryland’s Firearms and Safety Act.
A really ugly bill that would require gun owners to be fingerprinted and banning some guns outright.
Since it is a county making a statement against its own state, I thought I would look at the Maryland State Constitution and reference the clause or amendment of “The right to keep and bear arms.”
Maryland’s Constitution doesn’t have that phrase. It does have “Regulate the Militia” but not the individual right. I double checked another source to make sure I was correct and that I didn’t lose the phrase in the language somewhere.
I would argue that Maryland’s Firearm and Safety Act is a violation of our natural rights. However from an non-incorporation doctrine perspective, wouldn’t the law be legal? It is a state law regulating gun ownership and the state constitution doesn’t acknowledge the individual right to keep and bear arms.
Again, I am not saying it is right. I do think the law is violation of the natural right. However, I would think it would legal law in Maryland unless the state court still determined it was a violation of the natural rights.
Any thoughts..
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