The Maryland assault weapon ban prohibits the sale, purchase, transfer, and possession of dozens of named firearms along with any semi-automatic weapon that meets the state’s “copycat weapon” feature test. Violations are misdemeanors carrying up to three years in prison, and using a banned weapon during a violent crime adds a mandatory minimum five-year sentence on top of the underlying offense. The law has survived federal court challenges, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review it in 2025.
Which Firearms Are Prohibited
The state uses two overlapping tests. A firearm is banned if it appears on a statutory list of specific models, and it is also banned if it meets a feature-based definition even when it isn’t on the list.
The Named List
Maryland law names 45 assault long guns and 15 assault pistols, plus copies of each. The long gun list includes variants of the AK-47, the Colt AR-15, and other military-pattern rifles. The pistol list includes weapons like the Uzi and TEC-9 and their variants. One firearm is specifically carved out: the Colt AR-15 Sporter H-BAR rifle is not banned. The Maryland State Police maintains a searchable database identifying which specific makes and models qualify as copies of the named weapons.1Maryland Department of State Police. Firearm Search If you are unsure about a particular gun, that database or a licensed dealer is the right place to start.
The Copycat Weapon Test
A firearm that is not on the named list can still be illegal if it qualifies as a copycat weapon. The feature-based test captures six categories:2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-301
- A semi-automatic centerfire rifle with a detachable magazine and two or more of the following features: a folding stock, a grenade or flare launcher, or a flash suppressor.
- A semi-automatic centerfire rifle with a fixed magazine holding more than 10 rounds.
- A semi-automatic centerfire rifle with an overall length under 29 inches.
- A semi-automatic pistol with a fixed magazine holding more than 10 rounds.
- A semi-automatic shotgun with a folding stock.
- A shotgun with a revolving cylinder.
The second and third rifle categories catch people who only remember the detachable-magazine-plus-features formula. A semi-automatic centerfire rifle with a fixed magazine over 10 rounds is banned outright, and so is any semi-automatic centerfire rifle shorter than 29 inches overall, whether or not it has any military-style features.
Magazines and Rapid Fire Activators
Maryland prohibits the manufacture, sale, purchase, and transfer of any detachable magazine holding more than 10 rounds, whether designed for a pistol, rifle, or shotgun.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Criminal Law Code Section 4-305 Simple possession, however, is not illegal. If you already own a magazine over 10 rounds, or you brought one in from another state, you can keep and use it in Maryland. You just cannot buy, sell, or give it away inside the state. Two narrow exceptions apply: .22 caliber rifles with tubular magazines fall outside the ban, and the restriction does not apply to law enforcement officers or officers who retired in good standing.
Rapid fire trigger activators are covered by the same subtitle. The statute defines the term broadly as any device that, when attached to a firearm, increases the rate at which the trigger is activated or the rate of fire. Bump stocks, hellfire triggers, burst trigger systems, and auto-sears are all specifically named, and the ban also reaches copies and similar devices regardless of manufacturer.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Chapter 713 HB 810 – Rapid Fire Activator Aftermarket triggers that only change pull weight or feel are not covered, so long as they do not increase the rate of fire. Bringing an activator into Maryland, possessing one, or selling one all carry the same penalties as assault weapon offenses.
Who Is Exempt
Several categories of people and situations fall outside the ban:5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-302
- Federal employees acting in their official duties, members of the armed forces and National Guard, and Maryland law enforcement officers.
- Officers who retired in good standing from a Maryland or local agency, for weapons or magazines the agency sold or transferred to them at retirement or that they purchased for official use before retiring.
- Licensed dealers, for a limited set of activities including servicing banned weapons for law enforcement and handling transfers to and from out-of-state parties.
- Someone who inherits an assault weapon or large-capacity magazine from a person who lawfully possessed it, provided the recipient is not otherwise disqualified from owning regulated firearms.
- A personal representative of an estate handling estate duties.
- A firearm modified so it can never fire again.
- Armored car company employees with proper permits, while working.
The inheritance exemption is the one most likely to matter to ordinary owners. A banned weapon can legally pass to a family member through inheritance, but a casual private sale between friends or at a gun show does not qualify.
What Existing Owners Can Keep
Maryland does not require pre-ban owners to surrender their weapons, but the grandfathering rules differ by category.
Assault Long Guns and Copycat Weapons
Anyone who lawfully possessed an assault long gun or copycat weapon before October 1, 2013, or who had a purchase order in place by that date, may continue to possess and transport it.6Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-303 Licensed dealers who had these weapons in inventory on or before that date may continue to sell them. The key limitation: a grandfathered owner cannot sell or transfer the weapon to another person within Maryland. It stays with you for life, or it passes through the inheritance exemption. There is no legal path to sell a grandfathered weapon to a private buyer inside the state.
Assault Pistols
Assault pistols follow an older, stricter timeline. You can keep an assault pistol only if you lawfully possessed it before June 1, 1994, and registered it with the Maryland State Police before August 1, 1994. If you missed the registration deadline, possession is not grandfathered no matter when you actually acquired the pistol.
Moving to Maryland or Passing Through
New residents who bring regulated firearms into the state must register them with the Secretary of State Police within 90 days of establishing residency.7Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-143 Regulated firearms in Maryland include all handguns and assault weapons. Moving in does not grandfather a banned weapon. If the firearm you bring qualifies as an assault weapon, you still need to fit within one of the exemptions to keep it legally.
For people just passing through, the federal Firearm Owners Protection Act offers a narrow safe harbor. Under 18 U.S.C. ยง 926A, you may transport a firearm through Maryland if you could legally possess it at both your origin and your destination, the firearm is unloaded, and neither the gun nor its ammunition is readily accessible from the passenger compartment.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms If the vehicle has no separate trunk, the firearm must be in a locked container other than the glove compartment or center console. This covers continuous travel only. It does not help if Maryland is your destination, if you make extended stops, or if the firearm is illegal at either end of the trip. In practice the protection is an affirmative defense, which means you can still be arrested and forced to raise it in court.
Penalties
Transporting, possessing, selling, or purchasing a prohibited assault weapon outside the exemptions is a misdemeanor punishable by up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.9Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-306 The same maximum applies to manufacturing, selling, or transferring a magazine over 10 rounds, and to possessing or selling a rapid fire trigger activator.
Penalties climb sharply when a banned weapon, activator, or large-capacity magazine is used during a felony or a crime of violence. That triggers a separate charge with a mandatory minimum sentence stacked on top of the underlying crime:
- First offense: 5 to 20 years. The five-year minimum cannot be suspended, and the person is not eligible for parole before serving the full five years.
- Each subsequent offense: 10 to 20 years, running consecutively with the sentence for the underlying felony or violent crime, not concurrently.
A person convicted of armed robbery who also carried a banned weapon faces the robbery sentence plus a separate, non-suspendable term of at least five years.
A Maryland conviction also carries federal fallout. Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing firearms or ammunition.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts Because the general Maryland assault weapon offense carries up to three years, a conviction crosses that federal threshold. The result is a lifetime federal ban on buying, receiving, or possessing any firearm, even after the sentence is served and even after moving to a state with no assault weapon restrictions.
Current Legal Status
The ban is enforceable and settled for now. In Bianchi v. Brown, the Fourth Circuit held in August 2024 that the weapons regulated by Maryland’s Firearms Safety Act of 2013 fall outside Second Amendment protection because they are military-style weapons designed for sustained combat operations and disproportionate to civilian self-defense needs.11Justia Law. Bianchi v Brown – Fourth Circuit The Supreme Court declined to take up the case in 2025, leaving the ruling intact.12Congress.gov. Supreme Court Declines Review of Decision Upholding Constitutionality of Maryland Assault Weapons Ban Future challenges are possible, but gun owners in Maryland should treat the current restrictions as law.