BELLEVUE, Wash. — Sept. 2, 2026 — The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners have filed a reply brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Novotny v. Moore, SAF’s challenge to Maryland’s so-called “sensitive places” carry ban.
In May, SAF petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the case challenging the constitutionality of Maryland’s ultra-restrictive “sensitive places” carry ban, passed after the landmark Bruen ruling forced the state to begin issuing concealed carry permits. Lawmakers sought to circumvent Bruen by passing a new law prohibiting carry in an overlapping patchwork of newly defined areas deemed “sensitive places.” Examples include mass transit facilities, establishments that serve alcohol, state parks, healthcare facilities, museums, stadiums and more.
“The Supreme Court has been clear that the Second Amendment protects a right for individuals to carry for self-defense as they go about their daily lives,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Put bluntly, when forced by the Supreme Court to issue carry permits, Maryland simply made those permits useless everywhere. Today’s reply makes clear that neither Maryland, nor the other jurisdictions that passed similar laws, should be allowed to so blatantly thumb their noses at the Supreme Court or the Constitution.”
As noted in the brief, “This scheme is fundamentally incompatible with the American tradition, which ‘does not broadly restrict arms use by the public generally,’ subject to limitations in ‘exceptional circumstances.’ There is nothing ‘exceptional’ about visiting a park or riding public transit. That Maryland’s bans sweep so broadly shows that they are built on faulty foundations.” Joining SAF in the case are Maryland Shall Issue, Firearms Policy Coalition, Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association and four private citizens.
“Not wanting to let something like a Supreme Court decision stand in their way of infringing on the Second Amendment rights of citizens, lawmakers in Maryland passed this carry ban that essentially makes residents carrying a firearm for self-defense a criminal,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “This circumvention of the Second Amendment is becoming commonplace and cannot be allowed to stand. Citizens deserve to fully exercise all their constitutional freedoms, but as we are well aware, there are those who feel the Second Amendment is a second-class right. That’s not the way the Constitution works, and we will continue to fight these idealogues at every turn to ensure the right to keep and bear arms is defended, secured and restored.”
For more information visit SAF.org.
The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.
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