Court upholds Md. concealed-carry gun law

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court says Maryland's law requiring applicants for a permit to carry a handgun to have a substantial reason is constitutional.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday unanimously overturned a March 2012 ruling by U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg.

Legg found that the right to bear arms is not limited to the home and that Maryland's law was designed to minimize the number of firearms outside homes by limiting the privilege to those who could demonstrate "good reason." He said the Second Amendment and a Supreme Court decision barred the state from enforcing that provision of the law.

Appeals court Judge Robert King wrote that the provision is reasonably adapted to Maryland's interest in public safety and crime prevention.