Overview
- Gov. Wes Moore signed SB 334 on Tuesday, banning the manufacture, sale, purchase, receipt, or transfer of firearms the state calls “machine gun convertible pistols,” with the ban scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027.
- Hours after the signing, the NRA, the Second Amendment Foundation, and the Firearms Policy Coalition filed National Rifle Association v. Moore in federal court in Maryland to challenge the law as an unconstitutional ban on commonly owned handguns.
- SB 334 defines covered guns by a technical feature — a "cruciform trigger bar" that can allow conversion with a pistol converter — and allows current lawful owners to keep covered pistols and transfer them only to immediate family who are legally eligible to possess firearms.
- Maryland’s attorney general advised the governor the bill has a reasonable chance of surviving Second Amendment review but warned courts have not fully addressed pistol converters, and the state’s fiscal analysis estimates implementation costs above $220,000 and cautions the police may not finish the prohibited-model list before the effective date.
- The measure follows a similar California law and recent Connecticut action, creating a regional pattern that is likely to produce multi‑state litigation and shape how courts treat conversion devices and bans on specific popular handgun models.