The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on Thursday agreed to rehear a case that held that a Maryland law requiring people to get a license if they want to buy a handgun is unconstitutional.

A majority of the judges in regular active service who were not disqualified voted to grant the state’s request to rehear the case. Oral argument is tentatively scheduled for the March 19-22 session in Richmond, Virginia.

A panel of three judges on Nov. 21 issued the initial ruling.

“The ongoing gun violence plaguing our streets and our communities continues to take innocent lives and tear families apart,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement.

“I welcome the court’s decision to rehear this case and will continue to defend common-sense gun laws to protect Marylanders from these unnecessary and very preventable tragedies,” he added. “Hopes and wishes do not take guns off our streets, but common-sense gun safety laws do.”

In a 2-1 decision, Judge Julius N. Richardson wrote for the majority that the provision to obtain a handgun qualification license, or HQL, could not stand under a 2022 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court called New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The high court held that gun control regulations are unconstitutional unless the government can show that they’re consistent with the nation’s historical tradition.

Judge G. Steven Agee signed onto the majority opinion. Senior Judge Barbara Milano Keenan wrote a dissenting opinion.

“The challenged law restricts the ability of law-abiding adult citizens to possess handguns, and the state has not presented a historical analogue that justifies its restriction; indeed, it has seemingly admitted that it couldn’t find one,” Richardson wrote. “Under the Supreme Court’s new burden-shifting test for these claims, Maryland’s law thus fails, and we must enjoin its enforcement.”

Brown, a Democrat, had filed the petition for rehearing and asked all 15 judges to take up the case. He vowed that his office would defend laws that are designed to protect people from gun violence.

Lawmakers passed the measure in 2013 following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

People must offer fingerprints, complete a firearms safety training course and submit an application to get a handgun qualification license. They’re also needed to rent or receive a handgun.

In a statement, Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said he welcomed the court’s decision to rehear the case.

“Every Marylander has the right to feel safe in their own neighborhood,” said Moore, a Democrat. “We will continue to work in partnership with the state legislature, local leaders, advocates, and community members to introduce common-sense legislation that makes Maryland’s communities safer.”

Maryland Shall Issue, an organization that works to preserve and advance the rights of gun owners in the state, was one of several groups and people in 2016 that challenged the law.

“We look forward to presenting the case to the full circuit,” said Mark Pennak, president of Maryland Shall Issue. “I think we have a strong case.”

The requirement to obtain a handgun qualification license has remained in effect during the litigation.