A federal judge on Friday blocked several restrictions Maryland lawmakers tried to impose on the ability to carry a firearm, while leaving other gun control measures in place.

Judge George L. Russell III, an Obama appointee, issued a preliminary injunction enjoining Maryland’s restrictions banning the carrying of a firearm in places selling alcohol, private buildings or property without owner’s consent and within 1,000 feet of a public demonstration.

He reasoned there was no historical basis to leave those laws in place in light of the Second Amendment challenge.

Judge Russell analyzed the laws following the Supreme Court’s ruling last year that upended New York’s license to carry scheme, where the state required people to show a proper need to carry a gun. The majority of the high court said any gun control measure must be consistent with the nation’s tradition and history back to the founding.

Under that precedent as a guide, Judge Russell upheld state bans against the carrying of a gun in museums, health care facilities, state parks, mass transit, school grounds, government buildings, casinos, racetracks, amusement parks and stadiums. He said there were historical traditions showing regulation of guns in these places.

The challenge, brought by a group of plaintiffs and gun rights groups, was launched against Maryland’s Gun Safety Act of 2023 that is set to take effect Sunday.

State lawmakers passed the law implementing several gun control measures in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which said carrying a pistol in public is a constitutional right. That’s led to many gun control measures being upended across the country as lower courts try to locate historical analogs when weighing a gun control measure against a Second Amendment challenge. 

• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.