To own a gun in Maryland, you need to be old enough, clear of the state and federal disqualifiers, and willing to work through Maryland’s regulated-firearm process: a Handgun Qualification License before any handgun purchase, a Maryland State Police application for every regulated firearm transfer, and a seven-day waiting period on the sale. Rifles and shotguns that aren’t classified as assault weapons follow a lighter path, but assault weapons and magazines over ten rounds are off-limits entirely.
Who Can Legally Own a Firearm
You must be at least 21 to possess a regulated firearm in Maryland. That category covers every handgun plus a specific list of assault-style long guns. Narrow exceptions let people under 21 handle a regulated firearm while supervised by someone 21 or older, while on duty with the military or National Guard, or during organized marksmanship training with a qualified instructor. Someone under 21 may also use a regulated firearm in self-defense inside their own home or a home where they are an invited guest.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-133 – Disqualification for Possession
For a rifle or shotgun that isn’t on the assault-weapon list, you need to be 18 to buy from a dealer under federal law. Maryland doesn’t set a minimum age for possessing a non-regulated long gun.
What Disqualifies You
Maryland bars several categories of people from possessing regulated firearms:
- Conviction of a disqualifying crime (generally a felony), a common-law crime that resulted in more than two years of imprisonment, or certain drug offenses.
- A mental disorder with a history of violent behavior, a finding of incompetence to stand trial or not criminally responsible, voluntary admission to a mental health facility for more than 30 consecutive days, or any involuntary commitment.
- Being subject to a current non-ex-parte civil protective order, an extreme risk protective order, or any court order prohibiting firearm possession.
- Being a habitual drunkard, addicted to a controlled substance, or a habitual user.
- Being a fugitive from justice, under court-appointed guardianship (unless solely for a physical disability), or under 30 and previously adjudicated delinquent for an act that would be a disqualifying crime if committed as an adult.
Most of these categories apply to rifles and shotguns under a separate provision as well.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-205 – Disqualification for Possession
Federal law adds one that often surprises people. Under the Lautenberg Amendment, anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence is barred from possessing any firearm or ammunition. That includes pleas of no contest and sentences of probation before judgment.3U.S. Department of Homeland Security. DHS Policy Related to Compliance with the Lautenberg Amendment to the Gun Control Act of 1968 The federal ban applies even where Maryland state law would allow possession.
Getting a Handgun Qualification License
Before you can buy, rent, or receive any handgun in Maryland, you need a Handgun Qualification License. Active and retired law enforcement, active military members, and buyers of antique or curio firearms are exempt from this requirement.
To qualify, you must be at least 21, not prohibited under state or federal law, and have completed a four-hour firearms safety training course within the last three years. The course has to cover Maryland firearm law, home firearm safety, and handgun mechanisms and operation, and it must include a live-fire component where you demonstrate safe handling.
The application goes through the Maryland State Police Licensing Portal. You’ll submit a $50 nonrefundable fee, a complete set of fingerprints taken via Livescan by a state-certified vendor, proof of training, and a sworn statement that you’re not prohibited from owning a firearm. Livescan fingerprinting is a separate cost that varies by vendor.4Maryland Department of State Police. Handgun Qualification License
Processing takes up to 30 days. If approved, the license is good for ten years. Renewal costs $20 and doesn’t require new fingerprints or another training course, but you still have to meet all eligibility requirements at renewal. If your application is denied, the Secretary of the Maryland State Police must provide a written explanation and inform you of your right to request a hearing within 30 days.
Buying a Firearm
From a Dealer
At a licensed dealer, you fill out ATF Form 4473 and the Maryland State Police Application and Affidavit to Purchase a Regulated Firearm, known as the MSP 77R. The dealer verifies your identity and submits the MSP 77R through the Maryland State Police Licensing Portal. For handguns, you also present your valid Handgun Qualification License.5Maryland Department of State Police. Regulated Firearm Purchases
The dealer cannot transfer the firearm to you until seven days after the application is submitted. That waiting period applies to every regulated firearm, not just handguns. Once the application clears, the dealer has 90 days to complete the transfer. Miss that window and the application is voided; you start over.
For non-regulated firearms like standard rifles and shotguns, the dealer runs a National Instant Criminal Background Check System check and there’s no additional Maryland waiting period.6eCFR. 28 CFR 25.6 – Accessing Records in the System
Private Sales, Gifts, and Inheritances
Maryland treats private transfers of regulated firearms the same as dealer sales. Every transfer, including gifts and inheritances, has to go through the MSP 77R process. The buyer and seller meet at either a licensed dealer or a Maryland State Police barrack, the application goes into the Licensing Portal, and the seven-day waiting period applies. Transferring a regulated firearm to someone who has been disapproved or placed on hold violates both state and federal law.
Straw Purchases
Buying a firearm for someone else who is the actual intended owner is a federal crime. A straw purchase conviction carries up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If the weapon is later used in a felony, an act of terrorism, or drug trafficking, the maximum jumps to 25 years.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Don’t Lie for the Other Guy ATF Form 4473 asks whether you are the actual buyer, and lying on it is a separate felony.
Registration Happens Automatically
When you buy a regulated firearm through a dealer or complete a private transfer through the MSP 77R process, the Maryland State Police record the transaction. No separate registration step is required on your end.
If You’re Moving to Maryland With Firearms
New residents have to register every regulated firearm with the Maryland State Police within 90 days of establishing residency. The application asks for each firearm’s make, model, serial number, caliber, barrel length, finish, and country of origin, along with your personal information. A single $15 nonrefundable fee covers the registration regardless of how many firearms you’re bringing in.8Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-143 – Registration Requirements for Persons Moving Into State
Weapons and Magazines You Cannot Own
Maryland prohibits possessing, selling, purchasing, or transporting assault weapons into the state. The ban has two parts: a long list of specifically named firearms and their copies (including the AK-47 in all forms, the AR-15 and CAR-15 with a narrow exception for the Colt AR-15 Sporter H-BAR rifle, the UZI carbine, the FN FAL, the Bushmaster semi-auto rifle, and the Beretta AR70, among many others), and a feature-based test.9Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Criminal Law Code 4-303 – Assault Weapons10Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-101 – Definitions
Under the feature test, a semi-automatic centerfire rifle that accepts a detachable magazine is banned if it has any two of these: a folding stock, a grenade or flare launcher, or a flash suppressor. A semi-automatic centerfire rifle with a fixed magazine over ten rounds, or one shorter than 29 inches overall, is also banned. Semi-automatic shotguns with a revolving cylinder or a folding stock fall under the ban as well.11Maryland Department of State Police. Firearm Search
If you lawfully owned an assault long gun or copycat weapon before October 1, 2013, you can keep and transport it. But you can’t sell or transfer it to anyone other than a licensed dealer who also owned it before that date.
On magazines, you can’t buy, sell, manufacture, receive, or transfer a detachable magazine that holds more than ten rounds. Exceptions cover .22-caliber rifles with tubular magazines and law enforcement officers, including retired officers in good standing.12Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Criminal Law Code 4-305 – Detachable Magazines Possession alone of a larger magazine you already owned isn’t prohibited under this section, but you can’t legally sell or transfer it in Maryland.
Storing Firearms Safely
Maryland doesn’t have a general law dictating how you store your firearms, such as a required safe. Since October 2023, though, a child access prevention law makes it illegal to store or leave a loaded firearm where you knew or should have known that an unsupervised minor could access it. Minor means anyone under 18. The law doesn’t apply where the minor’s access was supervised by someone 18 or older, resulted from unlawful entry, or the minor holds a firearm and hunter safety certificate.
Separately, licensed dealers can’t sell a handgun manufactured on or before December 31, 2002, without an external safety lock. Handguns manufactured after that date must include a built-in mechanical safety device. Those requirements apply at the point of sale, but the locks and devices that come with your handgun are worth using.
Transporting Firearms
Without a Wear and Carry Permit, Maryland restricts how you move a handgun around. You can transport it between certain locations, such as between your home and a shooting range or gunsmith, but the firearm should be unloaded and enclosed in a case. Keeping a loaded handgun in your glove box while running errands isn’t legal without a permit.
For interstate trips, the federal Firearms Owners’ Protection Act provides a safe harbor when you pass through a state where you might not otherwise be allowed to have the firearm. It must be unloaded, and neither the firearm nor ammunition can be readily accessible from the passenger compartment. In a vehicle without a separate trunk, the firearm or ammunition must be in a locked container other than the glove compartment or center console.13GovInfo. 18 USC 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms The protection applies only if you can legally possess the firearm at both origin and destination.
Flying is a TSA matter. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a locked hard-sided container, and checked as baggage only. TSA treats a firearm as loaded if live ammunition is in the chamber, cylinder, or an inserted magazine, or, for enforcement purposes, if the firearm and ammunition are both accessible to the passenger. Declare the firearm to the airline at check-in.14Transportation Security Administration. Transporting Firearms and Ammunition
Owning Is Not Carrying
The Handgun Qualification License lets you own a handgun in Maryland. Carrying one outside your home requires a separate Wear and Carry Permit, with its own application, longer training requirement (16 hours for an initial permit, 8 for a renewal), higher fee, and shorter validity period.15Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-306 If your plan is to carry, budget for that second process from the start.
Suppressors and Other NFA Items
Suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and machine guns fall under the federal National Firearms Act and require registration with the ATF. As of January 1, 2026, the $200 federal tax stamp historically required for items like suppressors and short-barreled rifles was reduced to $0. The paperwork remains: an ATF Form 4 for transfers or Form 1 for manufacturing, fingerprints, passport-style photos, and a background check.
Maryland’s assault weapon ban can independently prohibit a specific NFA item. A short-barreled semi-automatic centerfire rifle under 29 inches overall, for example, falls within Maryland’s feature-based criteria even with the federal paperwork complete. Confirm the item is legal under Maryland law before starting the federal registration process.