FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2019
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Attorney General Steve Marshall Leads 21-State Coalition Calling on U.S. Supreme Court to Review Law That Violates Second Amendment
(MONTGOMERY) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed an amicus brief Monday in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the State of Alabama and 20 other states in support of the fundamental right of their citizens to keep and bear arms. The brief calls on the Supreme Court to hear a challenge to a Maryland law that sharply limits the right of typical, law-abiding citizens to carry a handgun outside of the home.
“The overwhelming majority of states recognize that the Second Amendment allows law-abiding citizens the right to bear arms outside their homes for self-defense,” said Attorney General Marshall. “However, a handful of states have decided that citizens’ rights to possess a handgun outside their residence should apply only to when they meet certain limited criteria. In this case, a Maryland citizen was denied the fundamental right to self-defense because he failed to convince a bureaucrat that he faced some special danger to his safety.
“But the right to bear arms is not reserved for just a select few citizens. And there is no question that the Second Amendment right to ‘bear arms’ extends beyond the home. As Justice Clarence Thomas memorably put it: ‘I find it extremely improbable that the Framers understood the Second Amendment to protect little more than carrying a gun from the bedroom to the kitchen.’
“A few states have passed laws similar to Maryland’s that severely limit Second
Amendment rights, and those laws are rightfully being challenged in federal court as unconstitutional,” Attorney General Marshall added. “Alabama and 20 other states call on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of Malpasso v. Pallozzi and decide whether laws that deny law-abiding citizens the right to bear arms infringe on Second Amendment rights.”
Alabama is joined on the amicus brief by Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
A copy of the brief is attached
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