Maryland gun laws are among the strictest in the country. To buy a handgun you need a Handgun Qualification License from the Maryland State Police, every regulated firearm purchase runs through a seven-day waiting period, carrying in public requires a separate Wear and Carry Permit, and even permit holders are barred from a long list of sensitive places. Getting any of these pieces wrong can turn a lawful gun owner into a defendant, so the details matter.
Who Is Prohibited From Owning a Firearm
Before anything else, check whether you can legally possess a regulated firearm at all. Under Public Safety Code § 5-133, you cannot possess a handgun or a statutorily listed assault weapon if you have been convicted of a felony, a crime of violence, or a common-law crime that carried a possible sentence of more than two years.1Justia. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-133 – Possession of Regulated Firearm
The statute also disqualifies fugitives from justice, people addicted to controlled substances, habitual users of controlled substances, habitual drunkards, and anyone who has been confined for more than 30 consecutive days to a mental health facility. Being subject to a current civil protective order or an extreme risk protective order is a bar as well.1Justia. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-133 – Possession of Regulated Firearm If you are under 30, a juvenile adjudication for conduct that would be a disqualifying crime as an adult also disqualifies you.
You must be at least 21 to possess a regulated firearm.2Maryland State Police. A Review of Firearms Law in the State of Maryland For long guns that are not regulated, state law bars sale or transfer to anyone under 18 but does not set a minimum possession age, which is what allows minors to hunt with an appropriate long gun under supervision.
Regulated, Banned, and Unregulated Firearms
Maryland sorts guns into three buckets, and which bucket yours falls into decides what licensing applies.
Regulated Firearms
A regulated firearm means any handgun, plus 45 named assault weapons and their copies listed in Public Safety Code § 5-101(r). The list includes the AK-47 in all forms, the AR-15 and its imitations, the UZI carbine, and dozens of other semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-101 – Definitions Every purchase or transfer of a regulated firearm runs through the Maryland State Police, and buying a handgun also requires a Handgun Qualification License.
Copycat Weapons
Criminal Law § 4-301 separately bans “copycat weapons.” A semi-automatic centerfire rifle qualifies if it takes a detachable magazine and has 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, or with an overall length under 29 inches, also qualifies, as do semi-automatic shotguns with a folding stock and shotguns with a revolving cylinder.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-301 – Definitions Copycat weapons are banned whether or not they appear on the named assault weapons list.
Magazine Capacity
Under Criminal Law § 4-305, you cannot buy, sell, manufacture, receive, or transfer a detachable magazine holding more than 10 rounds within Maryland. Possessing a magazine over 10 rounds is legal if you purchased it out of state; the restriction is on the transaction, not the possession. Tubular magazines on .22 caliber rifles are exempt.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-305
Unregulated Firearms
Standard shotguns, bolt-action rifles, and other long guns that are not on the assault weapons list and do not meet the copycat definition are unregulated. No HQL or state-issued permit is required to buy one, though federal background check rules through a licensed dealer still apply.
How to Buy a Handgun: The HQL and Waiting Period
To buy, rent, or receive any handgun in Maryland, you need a Handgun Qualification License from the Maryland State Police. This is separate from a carry permit. Exemptions cover law enforcement officers, active military members, and transactions involving antique or curio firearms.6Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-117.1 – Handgun Qualification License
Training
You must complete a state-approved firearms safety course of at least four hours from a qualified instructor. The course covers Maryland firearm law, home firearm safety, and handgun operation. The statute requires a firearms orientation component demonstrating safe handling, which the State Police have specified includes a live-fire element with the applicant firing at a target at distances up to 15 yards.7Maryland State Police. Firearms Training Course Instructional Material Non-lethal marking projectiles fired from a firearm can satisfy the live-fire requirement. The training certificate must be dated within three years of your application. Courses typically run between $100 and $250.
Application, Fees, and Renewal
After training, you get fingerprinted through a LiveScan provider or at a State Police barrack, then submit the application through the Maryland State Police online licensing portal using your training certificate number and 16-digit LiveScan tracking number. The initial application fee is $50 and is non-refundable.8Maryland State Police. Fees for Licensing Division Applications Once issued, the HQL is valid for 10 years. Renewal costs $20, requires no new fingerprints or training, and should be submitted at least 14 days before expiration.9Maryland State Police. Handgun Qualification License Renewal Advisory If your license lapses, you cannot buy a handgun until the renewal clears.
The Seven-Day Waiting Period
Every purchase, transfer, gift, or voluntary registration of a regulated firearm requires an MSP 77R application. You complete the online form, and either a licensed Maryland dealer or a State Police barrack verifies your identity and submits it. A mandatory seven-day waiting period follows, and you are notified of the final disposition on the morning of the eighth day. No seller, dealer or private, can hand over the firearm while the application is pending, disapproved, or on hold.10Maryland Department of State Police. Regulated Firearm Purchases
Private Sales and Gifts
A private sale of a regulated firearm cannot happen informally. It must be processed by a licensed dealer, whose fee is capped at $20, or at a State Police barrack, where the fee is $10.10Maryland Department of State Police. Regulated Firearm Purchases Gifts and inheritances to immediate family (spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents) carry no fee but still require the MSP 77R application. Gifts to anyone outside that circle are treated as secondary sales.
Carrying in Public: The Wear and Carry Permit
To carry a concealed handgun in public in Maryland, you need a Wear and Carry Handgun Permit. Following the 2022 Bruen decision, Maryland no longer requires applicants to demonstrate a particular reason for wanting one. The State Police now evaluate applicants against objective eligibility criteria under a “suitable person” standard, which replaced the old “good and substantial reason” requirement.
Applicants must be at least 21, free of disqualifying criminal convictions, without a history of drug addiction or alcohol dependency, and without any mental health commitment exceeding 30 consecutive days.11Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Public Safety 5-306 – Handgun Permit Issuance The background investigation looks at whether the applicant has shown a propensity for violence or instability that would make carrying a handgun dangerous.
Initial applicants must complete 16 hours of in-person firearms training, including a practical shooting qualification. Renewal training drops to 8 hours and must be completed within two years of the renewal application.12Maryland Department of State Police. Wear and Carry Permit Training Training for the 16-hour initial course typically costs $250 to $800.
The initial application fee is $125 and renewal is $75.13Maryland Department of State Police. Wear and Carry Permit Your first permit expires at the end of your birth month following two years after issuance. Renewals run for three-year terms.
Maryland does not honor concealed carry permits from any other state. An out-of-state permit has no legal effect here. If you carry regularly, you need the Maryland permit.
Where You Cannot Carry, Even With a Permit
A Wear and Carry Permit does not let you carry everywhere. Criminal Law § 4-111, expanded by the Firearm Safety Act of 2023, designates a long list of sensitive places where firearms are prohibited.14Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-111 The categories are:
- Places serving children and vulnerable populations, including preschools, private K-12 schools, and health care facilities.
- Government and public infrastructure, including buildings owned or leased by state or local government, public and private colleges and universities, polling places during elections, power plants, and nuclear facilities.
- Special-purpose venues, including locations licensed to sell alcohol or cannabis for on-site consumption, stadiums, museums, amusement parks, racetracks, and casinos.
Carrying in a sensitive place is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. Owners or lessees of listed private locations are exempt on their own property, and properties being used for organized shooting, historical demonstrations, or hunting with the owner’s permission are carved out.
Transporting a Firearm Without a Carry Permit
Without a Wear and Carry Permit, Maryland allows you to transport a firearm only for specific reasons: traveling to or from a purchase or sale, going to a shooting range or hunting area, attending a firearm safety course, or moving the firearm between properties you own or reside at. Any other transport of a handgun is illegal.
When you do transport, keep the firearm unloaded and cased, stored in the trunk or the area of the vehicle farthest from the driver, with ammunition kept separately. Do not keep it in the glove compartment or center console. If you are traveling to or from a range, a receipt or class confirmation can help demonstrate lawful purpose during a stop.
Self-Defense: Duty to Retreat and the Castle Doctrine
Maryland is not a stand-your-ground state. Under common law, you have a duty to retreat before using deadly force in public if you can do so safely. Using deadly force when a safe exit was available forfeits the self-defense claim. Force must also be proportional: deadly force is only justified against a threat you reasonably believe to be life-threatening.
The castle doctrine is the main exception. Inside your own home you have no duty to retreat before defending yourself or your family. Proportionality still applies. An unarmed intruder who poses no lethal threat does not justify lethal force. The doctrine treats retreat from your own home as unreasonable; it does not authorize shooting anyone who enters uninvited.
Storage Around Minors
Criminal Law § 4-104 makes it a crime to store or leave a loaded firearm where you knew or should have known that an unsupervised minor (under 18) could access it. The violation is the storage itself; whether the minor actually reaches or fires the weapon is beside the point.
Separately, Public Safety § 5-132 requires licensed dealers to sell handguns manufactured before 2003 with an external safety lock, and handguns manufactured after 2002 must contain an integrated mechanical safety device. Beyond the child-access rule, Maryland does not dictate how you store firearms at home, but a locked safe or trigger lock is the cleanest way to comply when minors are in the household.
Penalties for Common Violations
The penalty structure is worth seeing in one place, because carrying-without-a-permit offenses ratchet up quickly on repeat convictions.
- Carrying a handgun without a permit, first offense: misdemeanor, 30 days to 5 years in prison, $250 to $2,500 fine.15Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 4-203
- Carrying without a permit, second offense: 1 to 10 years in prison.
- Carrying without a permit, third or subsequent offense: 3 to 10 years in prison.
- Carrying in a sensitive place: misdemeanor, up to 1 year in prison, up to $1,000 fine.
- Illegal sale or transfer of a magazine over 10 rounds: prohibited under Criminal Law § 4-305.
- Selling or transferring a firearm to a minor: misdemeanor, up to 1 year in prison, up to $1,000 fine.
The mandatory minimums on repeat carrying offenses are what most often surprise people. A second conviction guarantees at least a full year of incarceration, and the floor climbs from there. If you are transporting a firearm and unsure whether your situation fits one of the legal exceptions, the safer choice is to leave the gun secured at home.