Gun Laws in Maryland: HQL, Carry Permits, and Magazine Limits

Maryland gun laws are among the strictest in the country. To buy a handgun you need a Handgun Qualification License; to carry one in public you need a Wear and Carry Permit; dozens of semi-automatic rifles and any magazine over 10 rounds are banned from sale; and even permit holders are shut out of schools, hospitals, government buildings, bars, stadiums, and many other places. The core rules sit in the Public Safety Article and Criminal Law Article of the Maryland Code, and the Maryland State Police run the licensing and background-check system.

Who Is Disqualified From Owning a Firearm

Before any license question matters, you have to be eligible to possess a firearm at all. Public Safety § 5-133 bars possession of a “regulated firearm” (all handguns, plus a long list of named assault-style long guns) for anyone convicted of a disqualifying crime, which covers all felonies and many violent misdemeanors. The list also reaches fugitives from justice, habitual drunkards, and anyone addicted to or a habitual user of a controlled substance.¹

Mental health history can disqualify you too. Involuntary commitment to a psychiatric facility, a court finding of incompetence to stand trial, or a verdict of not criminally responsible all strip firearm rights. A voluntary admission of more than 30 consecutive days does the same. Active protective orders under the Family Law Article are disqualifying, and so is being under a court-appointed guardian for reasons beyond physical disability.¹

One trap worth flagging: federal law bars firearm possession by any unlawful user of a controlled substance under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3).² Marijuana is still Schedule I federally, so the ATF treats a Maryland medical marijuana card as reasonable cause to believe the holder is a prohibited user, even though cannabis is legal under state law.

Handgun Qualification License (HQL)

You cannot buy a handgun in Maryland, from a dealer or a private seller, without a Handgun Qualification License issued by the Secretary of State Police. To qualify you must be at least 21, be a Maryland resident, and pass a state and federal criminal history records check.³

You must also complete a firearms safety course within the three years before you apply. The course runs at least four hours, is taught by a qualified handgun instructor, covers state firearm law and home firearm safety, and includes a live-fire exercise where you demonstrate safe handling.⁴ Fingerprints go in with the application, in a format accepted by both the state Central Repository and the FBI.³

Waiting Period and Background Check at Purchase

Every regulated firearm purchase triggers a seven-day waiting period. The clock starts when the Maryland State Police Licensing Division receives the dealer’s application, and the background investigation results come back by the morning of the eighth day.⁵

Background checks apply to every firearm sale in the state, not just dealer sales. Since 2020, private transfers of rifles and shotguns that are not assault weapons also run through the background check system. Handgun and assault weapon private transfers were already covered. In practice, there is no legal way to buy a gun in Maryland without a background check, whether you are buying from a dealer or a neighbor.

Banned Weapons and the 10-Round Magazine Limit

The Firearm Safety Act of 2013 banned more than 40 specific semi-automatic firearms and any copies of them, including the Colt AR-15, every variant of the AK-47, the UZI carbine, and the Bushmaster semi-auto rifle.⁶ Possessing, transporting into the state, buying, or selling these is illegal unless you owned the weapon before the 2013 ban.⁷

The law also catches “copycat weapons”: semi-automatic, centerfire rifles that take a detachable magazine and have any one of a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip that protrudes beneath the action, a thumbhole stock, a flash suppressor, a grenade or flare launcher, or a forward pistol grip. Semi-automatic shotguns combining a folding stock with a pistol grip or thumbhole stock also qualify.⁸

Magazine capacity is capped at 10 rounds. You cannot manufacture, sell, buy, or transfer a detachable magazine holding more than 10 rounds in Maryland.⁹ Possessing a higher-capacity magazine is not itself a crime, so someone who acquired one out of state can own it for personal use. The restriction targets commercial activity and in-state transfers.

Wear and Carry Permit

To carry a handgun on your person or in a vehicle outside the narrow transport exceptions, you need a Wear and Carry Permit. After the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, Maryland switched to an objective, shall-issue standard. If you meet the qualifications, the Secretary of State Police must issue the permit.

Training

An initial permit requires at least 16 hours of in-person firearms training from a state-certified instructor, covering Maryland firearm law, handgun mechanisms, conflict de-escalation, and a live-fire qualification. Renewal applicants take a shorter 8-hour course.¹⁰

Application, Fees, and Timeline

Applications go through the Maryland State Police online Licensing Portal, which handles originals, renewals, modifications, and replacements.¹¹ You’ll upload training certificates, fingerprint receipts, proof of identity and residency, employment history, and personal references.

The fee is $125 for an initial permit and $75 to renew, not counting fingerprint processing.¹² The Licensing Division has 90 days to act on an application, during which investigators may verify references and employment.¹³

Transporting a Handgun Without a Permit

If you don’t have a Wear and Carry Permit, Maryland still lets you transport a handgun, but only for specific purposes: to and from the place of purchase or repair, between your home and business, or to and from organized target practice, a sport shooting event, or hunting. In every case the handgun must be unloaded and carried in an enclosed case or holster.¹⁴

Step outside those exceptions and you’re committing a misdemeanor. A first offense carries 30 days to 5 years and a $250 to $2,500 fine. Carrying on school property pushes the mandatory minimum to 90 days. A second conviction runs 1 to 10 years; a third or later, 3 to 10.¹⁴ This is where people who treat transport rules as a formality get in serious trouble.

Where You Still Can’t Carry With a Permit

A Wear and Carry Permit does not open every door. The Gun Safety Act of 2023 created broad categories of restricted places, and a January 2026 Fourth Circuit decision upheld most of them.¹⁵¹⁶ Firearms are prohibited in:

Public and private preschools, elementary and secondary schools, childcare facilities, and their grounds
Hospitals, clinics, and similar health care settings
State and local government buildings, and public and private college buildings
Stadiums, museums, racetracks, amusement parks, and casinos
Locations licensed to sell alcohol or cannabis for on-site consumption
Within 1,000 feet of a public demonstration
Public transit facilities, state parks, and state forests

Carrying in a restricted location is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year, a $1,000 fine, or both.¹⁵

One piece of the 2023 law did not survive. The provision making it a crime to carry on private property without the owner’s consent was struck down; the Fourth Circuit affirmed an injunction blocking enforcement.¹⁶ Property owners can still order an armed visitor off the premises under general trespass law, but there is no firearms-specific criminal penalty for carrying on private property.

Storage and Lost or Stolen Reporting

Criminal Law § 4-104 makes it a misdemeanor to store or leave a loaded firearm where you know, or should know, an unsupervised minor can reach it. A first violation carries a fine of up to $1,000.¹⁷ A second or subsequent conviction can also disqualify you from possessing regulated firearms under § 5-133, especially where a minor used the firearm to cause death or serious injury.¹ A trigger lock or locked container is the simplest way to stay on the right side of this rule.

If a regulated firearm is lost or stolen, you have 72 hours from discovery to report it to local law enforcement. Dealers must inform buyers of this duty at purchase. A first failure to report is a civil offense with a fine of up to $500. A second or later failure becomes a misdemeanor carrying up to 90 days in jail, a $500 fine, or both.

Self-Defense: Duty to Retreat and the Castle Doctrine

Maryland recognizes self-defense, but it is not a stand-your-ground state. Outside your home, you have a duty to retreat before using deadly force, as long as retreat can be done safely.¹⁸ Use deadly force in a public place where you could have safely walked away, and you lose the self-defense claim.

The castle doctrine is the exception. If someone attacks you inside your home, you have no duty to retreat and may use deadly force if needed to repel the attack.¹⁸ In either setting the force you use must be proportional to the threat; deadly force in response to a non-deadly threat will not hold up.

Extreme Risk Protective Orders

Since 2018, Maryland courts can issue Extreme Risk Protective Orders (ERPOs) to temporarily remove firearms from someone who poses an immediate danger to themselves or others. A spouse, cohabitant, blood relative, dating partner, current or former legal guardian, law enforcement officer, or medical professional who has examined the person can petition.¹⁹

ERPOs come in three stages: an interim order lasting until the temporary hearing (usually within two business days); a temporary order lasting up to six months; and, after a final hearing, a final ERPO lasting up to one year with the possibility of a six-month extension for good cause.¹⁹ While an ERPO is in effect, the respondent must surrender all firearms and ammunition to law enforcement or a licensed dealer.

NFA Items in Maryland

Suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns are regulated federally under the National Firearms Act and can be owned by Maryland residents who follow federal procedure. Effective January 1, 2026, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21) set the federal making and transfer tax on these items to $0, ending the $200 stamp that had been in place since 1934.²⁰

The tax is gone; the rest is not. You still have to submit ATF Form 4 with photographs and fingerprints, pass a NICS background check, and wait for ATF approval before taking possession, and the item still gets registered in the National Firearm Registration and Transfer Record. Possessing an unregistered NFA firearm is still a federal crime.²⁰ And federal legality isn’t the end of the inquiry: Maryland’s assault weapon and copycat definitions can independently prohibit configurations the ATF would approve.

1
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-133
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
3
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-117.1 – Handgun Qualification License Required for Purchase of Handguns
4
Maryland Department of State Police. Handgun Qualification License
5
Maryland Department of State Police. Purchase a Regulated Firearm
6
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-101 – Definitions
7
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-303 – Assault Weapons
8
Maryland General Assembly. Senate Bill 623 – Maryland Assault Weapons Ban of 2013
9
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-305 – Detachable Magazines Prohibited
10
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-306 – Qualifications for Permit
11
Maryland Department of State Police. Handgun Wear and Carry Permit
12
Maryland Department of State Police. Wear and Carry Permit
13
Maryland State Police. Maryland State Police Licensing Division Portal Update
14
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-203
15
Maryland General Assembly. SB 1 – Criminal Law – Wearing, Carrying, or Transporting Firearms – Restrictions (Gun Safety Act of 2023)
16
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Maryland
17
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-104 – Childs Access to Firearms
18
Maryland General Assembly. Fiscal and Policy Note – House Bill 1214
19
Maryland Courts. Extreme Risk Protective Orders
20
Congress.gov. The National Firearms Act and P.L. 119-21 – Issues for Congress