Maryland does not run a general gun registry. Instead, the state records every transfer of a handgun or listed assault weapon through the Maryland State Police, and it requires new residents to register any regulated firearms they bring into the state within 90 days. So how you register a gun in Maryland depends on your situation: if you’re buying, selling, or receiving a regulated firearm inside the state, the paperwork happens automatically when a licensed dealer processes the transfer; if you’re moving in with guns you already own, you file a separate registration with the State Police. Standard hunting rifles and shotguns generally aren’t part of either process.
Which Guns Maryland Actually Tracks
The registration and transfer rules apply only to “regulated firearms.” Maryland defines that term as any handgun plus a specific list of named assault weapons and their copies.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-101 – Definitions The list includes models like the AK-47 in all forms, the AR-15 and its imitations, and the UZI carbine, among dozens of others. A copy of a listed model is treated the same as the original.
Ordinary hunting rifles and shotguns that don’t appear on that list are not regulated firearms, and they don’t go through the State Police transfer or registration system. Antique firearms are excluded as well; the statute cross-references the Criminal Law definition, which generally covers pre-1899 firearms and replicas not designed to fire conventional ammunition.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-101 – Definitions
If your firearm isn’t a regulated firearm, there is no state registration step for you to complete. If it is, one of the two paths below applies.
New Residents: Register Within 90 Days
If you move to Maryland intending to become a resident, you have 90 days from the date you establish residency to register every regulated firearm you brought with you. The registration goes to the Secretary of the Maryland State Police.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-143 – Registration Requirements for Persons Moving Into State
The application asks for detailed information on each firearm, including make, model, serial number, caliber, and barrel length, together with your personal identifying information. The fee is a flat $15, regardless of how many firearms you register at once.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-143 – Registration Requirements for Persons Moving Into State The information you submit is not open to public inspection.
Missing the 90-day window doesn’t make the firearms themselves illegal to possess, but it does put you in violation of the registration requirement, and it can complicate any later sale or transfer through a dealer.
What About Long Guns You Bring With You
The 90-day rule applies to regulated firearms, meaning handguns and listed assault weapons. Ordinary rifles and shotguns you already own don’t require registration when you move to Maryland. If any of your named assault weapons fall within Maryland’s ban, however, bringing them into the state raises a separate legal problem beyond registration; the State Police maintain a firearm search tool that flags whether a specific model is banned, regulated, or unrestricted.3Maryland Department of State Police. Firearm Search
Buying or Transferring a Regulated Firearm in Maryland
There is no separate registration form for a purchase, sale, or private transfer of a regulated firearm inside Maryland. The record is created by the transfer process itself. Every transaction, including private sales between individuals, must go through a licensed firearms dealer.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-117 You cannot hand a regulated firearm to another person without a dealer in the middle.
The dealer submits an application to the Maryland State Police on behalf of the buyer. A seven-day waiting period then begins, during which the background check runs. The dealer cannot release the firearm until those seven days have passed and the check clears. Once the transfer completes, the State Police keep a permanent record of it. That record, built up transaction by transaction, is the closest thing Maryland has to a gun registry, and it’s why current residents who already own a regulated firearm have no separate registration form to file.
The Handgun Qualification License Comes First
If the firearm you’re receiving is a handgun, you can’t complete the transfer without a Handgun Qualification License issued by the Maryland State Police.5Maryland Department of State Police. Handgun Qualification License The HQL has three prerequisites:
- LiveScan fingerprints submitted for a background investigation, with a state processing fee and a separate vendor service fee.
- A minimum four-hour firearms safety course covering Maryland firearm law, home safety, handgun mechanisms, and a live-fire demonstration, completed within three years before you apply.6Maryland Department of State Police. Handgun Qualification License – Training
- An electronic application through the Maryland State Police portal, with a $50 fee.7Maryland Department of State Police. Fees for Licensing Division Applications
The license is valid for 10 years. Letting it expire before renewing means starting over with new fingerprints and a new course.
Several groups can skip the HQL entirely: active law enforcement officers, those retired in good standing from a federal, state, or local Maryland law enforcement agency, active or retired members of the U.S. Armed Forces or National Guard holding a valid military ID, and licensed firearms manufacturers.5Maryland Department of State Police. Handgun Qualification License Veterans with an honorable-discharge DD-214 but no current military ID are exempt from the training requirement only; they still apply for the HQL and submit fingerprints.8Maryland State Police. Maryland Handgun Qualification License Application Guide
Who Cannot Complete a Registration or Transfer
Maryland’s disqualification rules are broader than the federal minimum. Under state law, you cannot possess a regulated firearm if you have been convicted of a crime of violence, a felony, or a misdemeanor punishable in Maryland by more than two years; you are a fugitive from justice; you are addicted to or a habitual user of a controlled dangerous substance or a habitual drunkard; you have a qualifying mental-health history, including a voluntary admission of more than 30 consecutive days; a current non-ex-parte protective order has been entered against you; you are under a court-appointed guardian for reasons other than a physical disability; you are under 21; or you are under 30 and were adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for an act that would have been a disqualifying crime for an adult.9Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-133 Maryland does not exempt 18-to-20-year-olds from the age rule.
Federal disqualifications under 18 U.S.C. 922(g) apply on top of the state list and can bar possession even when Maryland law would otherwise allow it.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
Federally Registered Weapons Are a Separate System
Suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machine guns, and destructive devices are registered through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under the National Firearms Act, not through Maryland’s system. Possessing any of them without ATF registration is a federal felony. As of January 2026, the $200 federal tax that had applied to NFA registrations since 1934 has been eliminated, but every other NFA requirement, including fingerprints and background check on Form 1 or Form 4, remains in effect. Maryland’s assault-weapons ban prohibits many of these items at the state level, so a properly registered NFA item can still be illegal to possess here.
Penalties for Skipping the Process
Knowingly participating in an illegal sale, transfer, purchase, or receipt of a regulated firearm is a misdemeanor carrying up to five years in prison, a fine up to $10,000, or both.11Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-144 – Knowing Participation in Violation of Subtitle That covers selling a regulated firearm without a dealer in the middle, transferring to someone you know is disqualified, or buying on behalf of someone who can’t legally buy. A conviction can also cost you your HQL, blocking any future handgun purchase or receipt.