The National Rifle Association filed suit after Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed the Gun Safety Act of 2023 on Tuesday, along with other gun safety measures, court documents showed.
The Gun Safety Act of 2023, or Senate Bill 1, according to its abstract, “prohibits a person from knowingly wearing, carrying, or carrying a firearm in a specified place.”
The signings come as the U.S. struggles with mass shootings, which nearly doubled from 2018 to the end of last year, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive. There have been more than 220 incidents of mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the nonprofit.
CNN and GVA define a mass shooting as a shooting that injures or kills four or more people, including the shooter.
The gun safety bill is one of several gun-related bills signed at Tuesday’s signing ceremony, the Democratic governor’s office said.
Moore said the gun control measures would “help keep our communities safe from gun crime” and “help take guns off our streets.”
“We are taking action to create a safer and brighter future for Maryland,” he added in a Twitter post.
The federal lawsuit was filed by the Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association, a state affiliate of the NRA, along with regulated gun dealers. It calls the newly signed bill “unconstitutional” and claims that “the average law-abiding citizen of Maryland may exercise the right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home …”.
The suit seeks to have the court declare that the portion of the law requiring portability violates the First, Second, and Fourteenth Amendments, order that portion not to be enforced, and award damages and attorneys’ fees to file a lawsuit. Asks for fees.
“The NRA is suing because it is illegal under the US Constitution, but it is also important to note that these laws go against common sense.
“You know who wouldn’t go through all this to get a permit? And who wouldn’t worry about where it’s legal to carry? Criminals. This law only stops people who follow the law and do their DJ NRA Legislature’s Maryland Commissioner Spyker said in a statement.
“The NRA thinks keeping more guns on the streets is the solution when it’s really a problem. Everyone believes these common-sense laws will protect Marylanders and protect the rights of legal gun owners.” Moore’s Press Secretary Carter Elliot IV said, “While they take a political stand, we are saving lives.”
“All Marylanders have a right to feel safe in their communities, and the governor is committed to doing everything in his power to make Maryland a safe home for everyone,” Elliott said.