March 6, 2012 3:10PM # Second Amendment Victory By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) --- SHARE The landmark [*Heller* ruling](http://www.cato-unbound.org/2008/07/14/robert-a-levy/district-of-columbia-v-heller-whats-next/) said the Constitution protects a person’s right to keep a gun in his home for purposes of self-defense, at least as against the federal government (the case was filed in the *federal* capital city, Washington, DC). Next, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to keep a gun in the home also had to be honored by [state and local governments](http://reason.com/archives/2010/07/01/aftermath-mcdonald-v-chicago). The litigation has now moved on to consider whether, and to what extent, the right to keep and bear arms must be honored outside the home. Yesterday, a federal court [invalidated a Maryland law](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/maryland-handgun-permit-provision-unconstitutional-federal-judge-rules/2012/03/05/gIQAq02htR_story_1.html) that granted carry permits only to those who could show a “good and substantial reason” for carrying a gun (general worry about the possibility of a criminal attack was inadequate). The Court said the Maryland law “impermissibly infringes the right to keep and bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment.” Last month Cato released a [study](https://www.cato.org/guns-and-self-defense/) concerning the frequency with which persons use guns for self-defense—way more often than the average person realizes. Cato associate policy analyst David Kopel, has more over at the [Volokh blog](http://volokh.com/2012/03/05/right-to-carry-victory-in-maryland-woollard-v-sheridan/). ##### Related Tags [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).