MD gun laws

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IZHUMINTER

New member
I'm planning on moving out to the DC area in the next few months. I'll probably end up in Southern MD because the commute from Northern VA would add another 2+ hours of time in the car every day. What do I need to do to take my guns with me? Does MD require registration of guns I already own? What hoops would I have to jump through to take them shooting? I'm not even going to bother asking about CCW, since I've heard what a pain that is for MD residents...
 
The NRA site is not perfect, but it will give you a good idea about the laws. In short, you do not have to register your rifles or handguns since Md does not have registration of handguns. They do however keep a record of handguns purchased within the state. What they call "assault pistols", like semi auto uzis and calico pistols, you cannot have at all . The exception to this is if the "assault pistols" are registered as NFA short barreled rifles and then the state may (or may not) ask for a $5 tax stamp every year like they do for full auto.

Big piece of advice I am going to give you here is that, since Md has a greater than 20 round magazine ban, buy all of the high capacity magazines you can for your guns before you move to Md. There is no law banning possession of the magazines, just the sale, manufacter and purchase. I can drive 20 minutes over the state line, buy a 100 round magazine and return to Md without breaking the law.


When you transport your handgun within the state you have to have it unloaded and in a holster that can snap it in (a box with a latch works as well). Many places on the web erroniously state that you must have the ammo in the trunk or the ammo in the car and the gun in the trunk. There is no mention of this in the Md laws that I have ever found when reading them (but I am not a lawyer). You may want to do this anyway to avoid a confrontation with an unknowledgible cop (but I keep my gun in the holster in the front of the car next to a seperate loaded mag all the time without a worry when going to the range).

When you have your gun in your car or when you are carrying your unloaded gun in its snapped holster in public, you must be on your way to the gunsmith, to the range, between residences (yours or others as the way I understand it), to a place of work and to a firearms transaction. I have heard, but it does not make sense, is that you cannot stop at a gas station or a store (to buy ammo for instance) while taking your gun to the range. (doesn't make sense because county sherrifs are subject to the same restrictions when going to and from work, and they stop all the time).

CCW all depends on your profession in Md. If you are a criminal attorney, a doctor, have to carry or transport money for your profession, or some other profession simlar, the sate may issue . For the average joe, you have to have had been threatened and they make you provide 2 witnesses and a police report (IIRC).

Despite what you may hear, if you are not a felon, you do not have to get a permit to wear body armor.

From what I have gathered about the law and since I have seen nothing to contradict my view of it, you can wear openly or concealed while on your own property, without restrictions.

And finally, there is a brand new forum site for Maryland gun owners that started about a week and a half ago and you can ask there as well. www.mdshooters.com
 
The Peoples Republic of Maryland is VERY firearms adverse. Saint Mary's County has a good deal of hunting (water foul, doves, deer, etc.) and shooting. It is probably as "gun friendly" as you will find in the Maryland DC suburbs.
 
I think Novus hit about every point as accurate as you'll get.

I tried the mdshooter link - the site doesn't work. :confused:


Join the crowd - we have a nice crowd of dedicated shooters in Maryland. One word of warning though - you WILL be expected to show up at legislative hearings and to write your elected officials regarding gun laws once you move here! :p
 
I tried the mdshooter link - the site doesn't work
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I am not computer knowledgible yet so I will guess about what I have no clue about. If you hit the link then maybe it didn't work because some browsers don't know about it yet (like google) because it is so new. (I am probably way off, but like I said, I know nothing about how the net works...yet).

You may have done what I did a few times and, while typing in the URL (or whatever the thingy we type in is called) I forgot to add the "s" on the end of mdshooters.
 
There could be a problem for you in reqistering your firearms in Maryland unless you can prove your ownership in the district was 100% legal. Meaning if you try to register handguns you owned in DC you may have a major problem registering them in Maryland. Only DC police and federal agents may own/posses handgun in the district since the mid 1970s I believe.


CCW all depends on your profession in Md. If you are a criminal attorney, a doctor, have to carry or transport money for your profession, or some other profession simlar, the sate may issue . For the average joe, you have to have had been threatened and they make you provide 2 witnesses and a police report (IIRC).
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Doctors and lawyers must also show [documented proof] there life has been threatned before a permit will be issued in Maryland;as would virtually every citizen of the so-called free state. There is no difference under Maryland law on what type of attorney or physician a person has to be in order to make the permit process easier. The process is much easier for politicans,sitting and retired judges. And a bit easier for retired LEO'S and security guards who carry firearms as a condition of employment. With the security guard permit usually for "on the job" carry only. The Maryland carry permit is one of the most restrictive and most difficult to obtain in the nation. But they are often times handed out as "political favors".
 
Doctors and lawyers must also show [documented proof] there life has been threatned before a permit will be issued in Maryland. The process is easier for retired LEO'S and security guards who carry firearms as a condition of employment.
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I read that on Packing.org or the link they provided. I disagree. I am not a lawyer, but I know of a couple of professionals (not docs and lawyers though)that have gotten the right to carry without having to show that they have been specifically threatened. From what I have seen in the law on the state's websites, they make exceptions for the people I mentioned (like lawyers) or the reverse is possible and they made exceptions to not issue to the average Joe by making them show proof. I think that it may depend on how the doctor or lawyer submits the application.

One way to get a restricted CCW (from what I understand) is to show that the doctor has to lawyer has to carry large sums of cash from his buisness to his home or the bank. Of course, taking this route will mean that they can only carry when they have the money.

The other way they can do it and not have as many restrictions on when they can carry, is to claim a danger associated with their job, like being a criminal attorney. I have no empirical knowledge on the last sentence, but from what I have seen, neither does Packing.org's claim that it is the opposite. Go to the MD state Police website and look at the application part for CCW. It says that only correction officers (and the average Joe) must show proof of threats. Right above where it says the CO's must provide proof of that, it doesn't say that for the doctors and pharmacists. So I would assume that this means that Packing.org may very well be wrong (as much as I could be wrong at least).
 
The information contained in my post came from my deceased father-in-law during our many discussions over the years who was a Maryland criminal defense attorney for 23 years and a sitting judge for about 17 years.
 
(as much as I could be wrong at least).
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As I have said, these are just my understanding of the law and I am not a lawyer. I respect your recollections of your deceased father-in-law and he was a lot more (by a thousand fold) knowledgible about the MD CCW laws than I am now. However, I have heard misconceptions from experienced professionals before. Sometimes they have the misconceptions because they never had to deal with it before or never tried to acquire a CCW before (I have never tried either). Or they have misconceptions because they did try to get a CCW and the bureaucrat who did not know the law themselves, gave them the wrong info. This is why lawyers always say to get things in writing from the people in charge. Another possibility is that Md has tweaked their administative view on their own interpretations, or their enfocements, in the past few years (maybe the govenor has something to do with this).

I have not researched this subject beyond inquiries among those who have limited knowledge on the subject and beyond what I have found on the internet. But, I have found more than a couple of things that have been erroneously (IMO) posted on Packing.org's website and even NRA's (state's laws) website.

I am sorry, but I cannot take what your father-in-law has said at face value (as I do not take something at face value with just about everything I read or hear). I will however repeat what he said (with your permission) whenever I make my claims that doctors and lawyers in Md can get a CCW without having to submit proof of a specific threat.
 
Just to clear up any confusion, he's not moving FROM DC, he's moving TO the DC area. I know it doesn't make a world of difference.

FYI, my father lives in St. Mary's, and as someone already mentioned, it's as gun friendly a county as you'll find around here.
 
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