Malpasso v. Pallozzi

Defending Maryland’s “good cause” public-carry regime.

Court: District of Maryland; Fourth Circuit

Issue at Stake: Public carry

Summary: On February 1, 2019, Everytown filed an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, urging the federal appeals court to uphold the district court’s decision rejecting a challenge to Maryland’s system for regulating the carrying of firearms in public. Everytown’s brief refutes the primary historical arguments made by gun-lobby lawyers, and explains that Maryland’s requirement that an applicant have a “good and substantial reason” to obtain a permit to carry a firearm in public is consistent with centuries of Anglo-American tradition—and thus constitutional under the Second Amendment. Everytown previously filed a similar brief in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

Decision: Relying on its prior precedent in Woollard v. Gallagher, on April 29, 2019, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision rejecting plaintiffs’ Second Amendment challenge to Maryland’s firearms public-carry law. On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari review.

Case Documents