Proposed Maryland Firearm Legislation
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note: Maryland does not carry over legislation from session to session
Title: Election Law – Polling Sites – Firearms Prohibitions
Description: Prohibiting a person from carrying or displaying a firearm on certain premises or carrying or possessing a firearm within 100 feet of a polling site during an election, subject to certain exceptions.
Last Action: Hearing 1/19 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: January 4, 2022
Title: Criminal Procedure - Pretrial Release - Crime Involving a Handgun
Description: Prohibiting a judicial officer from authorizing the pretrial release of a defendant charged with a crime involving a handgun after having been convicted of a crime involving a handgun within the previous 5 years; and requiring that a certain defendant be held without bail pending trial in a certain correctional facility.
Last Action: Withdrawn by Sponsor
Last Action Date: February 14, 2022
Title: Criminal Procedure - Warrantless Arrest - Straw Purchase Participant
Description: Adding the crime of knowingly being a participant in a straw purchase of a regulated firearm to the list of crimes subject to warrantless arrest; and providing a penalty on conviction of imprisonment not to exceed 10 years or a fine of up to $25,000 or both.
Last Action: Hearing 3/29 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: March 23, 2022
Title: Crimes - Firearms - Penalties and Procedures (Violent Firearms Offender Act of 2022)
Description: Expanding the types of cases in which the State may appeal from a decision of a trial court under certain circumstances; establishing, altering, and clarifying penalties for and elements of certain firearm-related crimes; prohibiting a District Court commissioner from authorizing the pretrial release of a certain defendant charged with a certain firearm-related crime under certain circumstances; etc.
Last Action: Hearing 2/08 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: January 27, 2022
Title: Public Safety - Untraceable Firearms
Description: Altering a certain definition of "firearm" to include a certain unfinished frame or receiver; prohibiting a person from purchasing, receiving, selling, offering to sell, or transferring an unfinished frame or receiver; prohibiting a person from selling, offering to sell, or transferring a certain firearm; prohibiting a person from possessing a firearm on or after March 1, 2023, unless it is required by federal law to be, and has been, imprinted with a certain number in a certain manner; etc.
Last Action: Enacted under Article II, Section 17(b) of the Maryland Constitution - Chapter 18
Last Action Date: April 9, 2022
Title: Firearms – Right to Purchase, Own, Possess, and Carry – Medical Cannabis
Description: Providing that a person may not be denied the right to purchase, own, possess, or carry a firearm solely on the basis that the person is authorized under certain provisions of law to use medical cannabis.
Last Action: Hearing 3/09 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 16, 2022
Title: Firearm Safety - Storage Requirements and Youth Suicide Prevention (Jaelynn's Law)
Description: Altering a certain provision relating to the storage of firearms and ammunition in a location that can be accessed by an unsupervised minor; and requiring the Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services to develop a youth suicide prevention and firearm safe storage guide, with recommendations from a stakeholder committee.
Last Action: Hearing 2/23 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 3, 2022
Title: Handgun Permits - Qualifications - High-Risk Occupations
Description: Requiring the Secretary of State Police to issue a certain permit to carry, wear, or transport a handgun to a person who meets certain requirements and is employed in a certain profession.
Last Action: Hearing 2/16 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 3, 2022
Title: Sales and Use Tax - Exemption - Firearm Safety Devices
Description: Providing an exemption under the sales and use tax for the first $500 of the taxable price of certain firearm safety devices, including a firearm safe, firearm lockbox, trigger and barrel lock, or any other item designed for home firearm safety.
Last Action: Hearing 2/23 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 3, 2022
Title: Maryland Arms Protection Act
Description: Prohibiting the enforcement of certain federal laws relating to firearms, firearm accessories, and firearm ammunition; requiring the Attorney General to defend a resident of the State in certain federal prosecutions; and authorizing a resident of the State to file suit against a federal actor or State actor who enforces or aids or abets the enforcement of certain federal law and authorizing a court to award attorney's fees, court costs, and damages to a prevailing plaintiff.
Last Action: Hearing 3/09 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 14, 2022
Title: Public Safety – Licensed Firearms Dealers – Security Requirements
Description: Prohibiting a certain licensed firearms dealer from storing a firearm on a certain premises where the licensed firearms dealer conducts business, unless the premises is equipped with certain security features; requiring a licensed firearms dealer to lock certain firearms in a certain location outside business hours; and requiring the Secretary of State Police to suspend or revoke a certain dealer's license if the dealer is found in violation of certain offenses.
Last Action: Gubernatorial Veto Override (Legislative date: 4/8/2022) - Chapter 55
Last Action Date: April 9, 2022
Title: Firearms - Advice of Counsel Letter
Description: Requiring the Office of the Attorney General to submit, by September 1, 2022, an advice of counsel letter to the Governor, the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House on the effect of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen case on State firearm laws.
Last Action: Hearing 3/02 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 14, 2022
Title: Gun Theft Felony Act of 2022
Description: Classifying the theft of a firearm as a felony; and establishing a penalty for theft of a firearm of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $1,000 for a first offense, and imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $2,500 for a second or subsequent offense.
Last Action: Hearing 3/09 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 14, 2022
Title: Public Safety - Permit to Carry, Wear, or Transport a Handgun - Qualifications
Description: Clarifying that personal protection or self-defense can qualify as a good and substantial reason to wear, carry, or transport a handgun for purposes of the issuance by the Secretary of State Police of a permit to carry, wear, or transport a handgun.
Last Action: Hearing 3/09 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 14, 2022
Title: Public Safety – Handgun Permit Requirement – Repeal (Maryland’s Constitutional Carry Act of 2022)
Description: Repealing the requirement that a person have a certain permit before the person carries, wears, or transports a handgun; and repealing certain criminal prohibitions against a person who is at least 21 years old wearing, carrying, or transporting a handgun.
Last Action: Hearing 3/09 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 14, 2022
Title: Public Safety - Handgun Permit Application Fee - Waiver for Disabled Residents
Description: Prohibiting the Secretary of State Police or the Secretary's designee from charging a disabled resident of the State a fee to apply for a handgun permit.
Last Action: Hearing 3/02 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 14, 2022
Title: Public Safety - States of Emergency and Catastrophic Health Emergencies - Treatment of Religious Organizations
Description: Requiring that an order issued by the Governor during a state of emergency or catastrophic health emergency authorize a religious organization to operate to the same extent that or to a greater extent than organizations providing essential services are authorized to operate.
Last Action: Hearing 3/08 at 1:30 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 14, 2022
Title: Public Safety - Firearm Industry Members - Public Nuisance
Description: Prohibiting a certain firearm industry member from knowingly or recklessly engaging in conduct that is unlawful or unreasonable in the State that endangers the safety or health of the public; requiring a firearm industry member to establish and use certain reasonable controls and procedures to prevent a certain product from being possessed, used, marketed, or sold unlawfully in the State; establishing that a violation of the Act is a public nuisance; etc.
Last Action: Hearing 3/15 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: March 4, 2022
Title: Firearms – Use of Medical Cannabis
Description: Providing that a person may not be denied the right to purchase, possess, or carry a firearm solely on the basis that the person is authorized to use medical cannabis.
Last Action: Hearing 3/30 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: March 16, 2022
Title: Public Safety – Permit to Carry, Wear, or Transport a Handgun – Qualifications
Description: Clarifying that personal protection or self-defense can qualify as a good and substantial reason to carry, wear, or transport a handgun for purposes of the issuance by the Secretary of State Police of a permit to carry, wear, or transport a handgun.
Last Action: Hearing 2/10 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: January 24, 2022
Title: Election Law - Polling Sites - Firearms Prohibitions
Description: Prohibiting a person from carrying or displaying a firearm on the premises of a privately or publicly owned building being used as a polling site during an election, including a parking lot, or carrying or possessing a firearm within 100 feet of a polling site during an election, subject to certain exceptions.
Last Action: Hearing 2/23 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 8, 2022
Title: Handgun Permit - Preliminary Approval
Description: Authorizing a person to apply for preliminary approval of a permit to wear, carry, or transport a handgun without completing a certified firearms training course; and requiring the Secretary of State Police to investigate an application for preliminary approval of a handgun permit, issue preliminary approval if the applicant meets certain requirements, and revoke preliminary approval and deny a handgun permit if an applicant does not complete a firearms training course within 120 days after receipt of preliminary approval.
Last Action: Referred Judiciary
Last Action Date: February 25, 2022
Title: Crimes – Penalties and Procedures (Violent Firearms Offender Act of 2022)
Description: Requiring the Commissioner of Correction to provide an inmate with a reentry kit and assistance in obtaining Medicaid benefits; expanding the types of cases in which the State may appeal from a decision of a trial court; authorizing a court to release a defendant charged with a certain crime on certain terms or conditions or to order the defendant remanded to custody pending a certain appeal; prohibiting a dealer or other person from selling, renting, loaning, or transferring a regulated firearm under certain circumstances; etc.
Last Action: Hearing 2/10 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: January 24, 2022
Title: Public Safety - Untraceable Firearms
Description: Altering a certain definition of "firearm" to include a certain unfinished frame or receiver; prohibiting a person from purchasing, receiving, selling, offering to sell, or transferring an unfinished frame or receiver; prohibiting a person from selling, offering to sell, or transferring a certain firearm; prohibiting a person from possessing a firearm on or after March 1, 2023, unless it is required by federal law to be, and has been, imprinted with a certain number in a certain manner; etc.
Last Action: Enacted under Article II, Section 17(b) of the Maryland Constitution - Chapter 19
Last Action Date: April 9, 2022
Title: Crimes - Firearms - Penalties and Procedures (Violent Firearms Offender Act of 2022)
Description: Expanding the types of cases in which the State may appeal from a decision of a trial court under certain circumstances; establishing, altering, and clarifying penalties for and elements of certain firearm-related crimes; prohibiting a District Court commissioner from authorizing the pretrial release of a certain defendant charged with a certain firearm-related crime under certain circumstances; etc.
Last Action: Hearing 2/16 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: January 26, 2022
Title: Firearms - Handgun Qualification License - Firearms Orientation Component
Description: Providing that a firearms orientation component of a certain firearms safety training course required for a certain handgun qualification license may include the use of live or inert ammunition; and prohibiting a person from being required to fire rounds of live ammunition for a certain firearms orientation component.
Last Action: Hearing 2/16 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: January 31, 2022
Title: Criminal Procedure - Right of Appeal - Unlawful Possession of a Firearm
Description: Authorizing the State, in a criminal case involving the unlawful possession of firearms under certain circumstances, to appeal from a decision of a trial court that excludes evidence offered by the State or requires the return of certain property.
Last Action: Hearing 2/16 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: January 31, 2022
Title: Criminal Law - Theft of a Handgun
Description: Establishing the felony of theft of a handgun; and establishing a penalty for theft of a handgun of, for a first conviction, 2 to 5 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000 or both and, for a second or subsequent conviction, imprisonment for 5 to 10 years and a fine of up to $2,500 or both.
Last Action: Hearing 2/16 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: January 31, 2022
Title: Baltimore Police Department - Firearm Destruction, Seizure, and Recovery - Reporting Requirement
Description: Requiring the Baltimore Police Department to report certain information to the Baltimore City Delegation to the General Assembly regarding firearms destroyed, seized, or recovered by the Department each year; and providing that if the Baltimore Police Department does not submit a report as required under the Act, the Governor's Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services may not make any grant funds available to the Baltimore Police Department.
Last Action: Hearing 2/23 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 8, 2022
Title: Firearm Safety – Storage Requirements and Youth Suicide Prevention (Jaelynn’s Law)
Description: Altering a certain provision relating to the storage of firearms and ammunition in a location that can be accessed by an unsupervised minor; and requiring the Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services to develop a youth suicide prevention and firearm safe storage guide, with recommendations from a stakeholder committee.
Last Action: Hearing 3/15 at 1:00 p.m.
Last Action Date: February 9, 2022
Title: Income Tax - Credit for Firearm Safety Devices
Description: Authorizing a credit against the State income tax for the purchase of certain firearm safety devices during the taxable year; making the credit refundable; requiring proof of purchase to be provided to the Comptroller for a firearm safety device for which an individual is claiming a credit; and applying the Act to all taxable years beginning after December 31, 2021.
Last Action: Referred Rules and Executive Nominations
Last Action Date: March 29, 2022
Title: Crimes - Firearms and Inmates - Enforcement, Procedures, and Reporting
Description: Expanding the types of cases in which the State may appeal from a decision of a trial court; establishing the Maryland State Police Gun Center as a statewide firearms enforcement center for the tracking, screening, and vetting of all firearm crimes in the State; requiring the Center to create a statewide database to track certain information related to crimes committed with crime firearms; requiring the Commissioner of Correction to include in a certain report certain statistics related to the cost of living of inmates; etc.
Last Action: Approved by the Governor - Chapter 142
Last Action Date: April 21, 2022
Title: Public Safety – Firearm Industry Members – Public Nuisance
Description: Prohibiting a certain firearm industry member from knowingly or recklessly engaging in conduct that is unlawful or unreasonable in the State and that endangers the safety or health of the public; requiring a firearm industry member to establish and use certain reasonable controls and procedures to prevent a certain product from being possessed, used, marketed, or sold unlawfully in the State; establishing that a violation of the Act is a public nuisance; etc.
Last Action: Hearing canceled
Last Action Date: March 1, 2022
Title: Public Schools - School Resource Officers - Firearms Required
Description: Requiring a Baltimore City school police officer and a school resource officer to carry a firearm while present on the premises of the school to which the officer is assigned.
Last Action: First Reading Senate Rules
Last Action Date: February 15, 2022