A lawyer for the state of Connecticut asked a Second Circuit panel on Friday to reinstate an executive order that suspended fingerprinting for firearm licenses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, after a federal judge nixed the measure as unconstitutional.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Finucane, argued that the June 2020 preliminary injunction had “bound and handcuffed” Gov. Ned Lamont and the state’s top public safety official as Connecticut was preparing to combat a second wave of coronavirus infections last fall.