CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Appeals court upholds most of Maryland ban on weapons in schools, parks, other public places.

A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld Maryland’s law banning guns in a wide range of public settings, from school grounds and government buildings to parks, sports venues and areas within 1,000 feet of a public demonstration.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that most of the dozen places identified in Maryland law fall under the U.S. Supreme Court’s definition of “sensitive places,” where government has the authority to restrict the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The only area where the appeals court said the sensitive places exception did not apply was in “private property held open to the public,” where the law prohibits guns without specific permission from the property owner. That restriction is unconstitutionally broad, Circuit Judge Robert L. Gregory wrote for the court.

“Maryland’s rule would effectively declare most public places ‘gun-free zones,” Gregory wrote. “But that likely stretches the sensitive places doctrine too far.”

Maybe those places would be less sensitive with more guns.