top of page
2026 Gun Violence Priorities
The bills we're focused on this coming legislative session would address gun industry accountability, provide a dependable funding source for gun violence prevention initiatives, as well as clarify firearm relinquishment procedures pertaining to domestic violence.
These 3 bills are similar to ones we supported in 2025, which failed to pass:
SB 334 / HB 577 - "Do It Yourself" (DIY) Machine Gun Bill -
This bill would prohibit the sale of all pistols that can be turned into a machine gun with a small piece of plastic called a Glock switch or auto sear. Glock has recently announced that they are discontinuing their model that can be converted into a rapid fire weapon, but we are asking legislators to also prohibit the sale of similar pistols in MD. In 2023, the Morgan State mass shooter used an auto sear. About half of those arrested by police for an auto sear-related offense were too young to qualify for a handgun. This type of legislation recently passed in California. In addition to Maryland, Illinois and New York will focus on this bill.
Priority Partners: Maryland Moms Demand Action/Everytown For Gun Safety.
Learn More: Baltimore Banner article: Maryland Has a Machine Gun Problem
Everytown Law, MD Glock Complaint February 2025: Complaint and Demand for a Jury Trial
HB 197 / SB 118 - Comprehensive Community Safety Funding Act (aka Safety Funding Act) -
This bill would establish a dedicated, long-term funding source for community violence intervention, trauma care, and prevention initiatives, without adding new pressure to the state's General Fund. It would create a modest excise tax on the firearm industry--ensures that those who profit from the sale of firearms also help offset the measurable public costs of gun violence. This article, A Trace Analysis of 150 U.S. Cities Shows One of the Greatest Drops in Gun Violence — Ever, talks about how people, and specifically programs focused on violence intervention, have recently helped gun violence drop across the country and why state and local entities must now replace the funding lost by Federal cuts. The UULM-MD recently signed a letter in support of the Comprehensive Community Safety Funding Act.
Priority Partners: Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence.
SB 20 / HB 83 - Family & Law Enforcement Protection Act (aka Law Enforcement Protection Act)-
Firearms are used in over half of all intimate partner homicides. States that restrict gun access among individuals subject to domestic violence restraining orders have seen a 13% reduction in firearm intimate partner homicides. This bill would make sure firearms are kept out of the hands of domestic abusers starting at the time survivors seek protection from the court. Maryland consistently earns an A- rating from Giffords for the strength of its gun laws. However, that "minus" specifically reflects the state's failure to establish a clear and effective firearms relinquishment process.
Here are the talking points from last year's bill: MDGPV Talking Points
Priority Partners: Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence.
OPPORTUNITIES to get involved
The GVP Issue Lead welcomes individuals to join the GVP team. Individuals can follow one of
the priority issues in order to monitor: (a) committee hearings, (b) monitor monitor amendments proposed to change the initial text of a bill, and (c) UULM-MD communications and discussions on the issue.
The GVP welcomes support for outreach to interfaith partners. We are more successful when
we have common purpose with other partners.
Subject | Bill Number | XFile Bill Number | Sponsor | Title | Status | Current Location | Priority | Position | Action | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Handgun Roster Reform | SB0830 | Senator Waldstreicher | Handgun Roster Reform | First Reading Judicial Proceedings | Judicial Proceedings | Watch | Support | Altering provisions of law relating to the handgun roster, including requiring the Attorney General, or the Attorney General's designee, to conduct a certain legal review of a petition to place a handgun on the handgun roster and to make a certain determination before a handgun is placed on the handgun roster; requiring the Maryland State Police, or a certain accredited laboratory, to conduct certain testing on a handgun; altering the responsibilities of the Handgun Roster Board; etc. | ||
Firearms Dealers - Required Training | HB0741 | SB0692 | Delegate Taylor | Firearms Dealers and Employees - Required Training and Exam | Hearing 2/25 at 1:00 p.m. | Judiciary | Watch | Support | Requiring the Secretary of State Police to approve a certain training course and offer a certain exam for certain individuals licensed as, applying to be licensed as, or employed by a State-regulated firearms dealer; requiring certain individuals to complete training and satisfactorily pass a certain exam described in the Act; requiring the Secretary to disapprove an application for a dealer's license under certain circumstances; etc. | |
Firearms Dealers - Required Training | SB0692 | HB0741 | Senator Smith | Firearms Dealers and Employees - Required Training and Exam | First Reading Judicial Proceedings | Judicial Proceedings | Watch | Support | Requiring the Secretary of State Police to approve a certain training course and offer a certain exam for certain individuals licensed as, applying to be licensed as, or employed by, a State-regulated firearms dealer; requiring certain individuals to complete training and satisfactorily pass a certain exam described in the Act; requiring the Secretary to disapprove an application for a dealer's license under certain circumstances; etc. | |
Gun Buyback Programs - Destruction of Firearms | SB0775 | Senator Smith | Public Safety - Gun Buyback Programs - Destruction of Firearms | First Reading Judicial Proceedings | Judicial Proceedings | Watch | Support | Requiring a federal firearms licensee or law enforcement agency operating a gun buyback program to destroy each firearm and all its component parts that is traded in as part of a gun buyback program; authorizing a licensee or agency to contract with a law enforcement agency or a business to destroy certain firearms; requiring a law enforcement agency operating a program to determine if a firearm is a crime firearm or has been reported lost or stolen before destroying the weapon; etc. | ||
Community Safety Funding Act | SB0118 | HB0197 | Senator Benson | Comprehensive Community Safety Funding Act | First Reading Budget and Taxation | Budget and Taxation | Priority | Support | Contact your Senator on Committee | Imposing an excise tax on certain gross receipts of certain firearms dealers derived from the sales of firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition in the State and sales of firearms to State residents; and requiring the Comptroller to distribute a certain portion of the tax revenues to the Maryland Violence Intervention Program, the Center for Firearm Violence Prevention, the Coordinated Community Supports Partnership, the Survivors of Homicide Victims Program, the Trauma Physician Services Fund, and the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. |
Community Safety Funding Act | HB0197 | SB0118 | Delegate Mireku-North | Comprehensive Community Safety Funding Act | Hearing 3/05 at 1:00 p.m. | Ways and Means | Priority | Support | Contact your Delegate on Committee | Imposing an excise tax on certain gross receipts of certain firearms dealers derived from the sales of firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition in the State and sales of firearms to residents of the State; requiring the Comptroller to distribute a portion of the tax revenues to the Maryland Violence Intervention Program, the Center for Firearm Violence Prevention, the Coordinated Community Supports Partnership, the Survivors of Homicide Victims Program, the Trauma Physician Services Fund, and the Cowley Shock Trauma Center; etc. |
Family and Law Enforcement Protection | HB0083 | SB0020 | Delegate Bartlett | Family and Law Enforcement Protection Act | Hearing 1/29 at 2:00 p.m. | Judiciary | Priority | Support | Contact your Delegate on Committee | Altering and establishing provisions relating to the surrender of firearms by a respondent under the domestic violence statutes; and requiring a local law enforcement authority to take certain actions within 3 business days after service of an order against a respondent who is not in compliance with an order to surrender certain firearms. |
Family and Law Enforcement Protection | SB0020 | HB0083 | Senator Hettleman | Family and Law Enforcement Protection Act | Hearing 1/20 at 1:00 p.m. | Judicial Proceedings | Priority | Support | Contact your Senator on Committee | Altering and establishing provisions relating to the surrender of firearms by a respondent under the domestic violence statutes; and requiring a local law enforcement authority to take certain actions within 3 business days after service of an order against a respondent who is not in compliance with an order to surrender certain firearms. |
Machine Gun Convertible Pistols | HB0577 | SB0334 | Delegate Williams | Criminal Law - Firearm Crimes - Machine Gun Convertible Pistols | Hearing 2/11 at 2:00 p.m. | Judiciary | Priority | Support | Contact your Delegate on Committee | Prohibiting, on or after January 1, 2027, a person from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, purchasing, receiving, or transferring a certain machine gun convertible pistol, subject to certain exceptions. |
Machine Gun Convertible Pistols | SB0334 | HB0577 | Senator Love | Criminal Law - Firearm Crimes - Machine Gun Convertible Pistols | Hearing 2/05 at 1:00 p.m. | Judicial Proceedings | Priority | Support | Contact your Senator on Committee | Prohibiting, on or after January 1, 2027, a person from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, purchasing, receiving, or transferring a certain machine gun convertible pistol, subject to certain exceptions. |
Assisted Outpatient Treatment - Firarms Surrender | SB0942 | Senator Henson | Assisted Outpatient Treatment - Surrender or Seizure of Firearms | First Reading Finance and Judicial Proceedings | Finance | Requiring a court, under certain circumstances, to order a respondent who has been ordered to comply with assisted outpatient treatment to surrender to law enforcement any firearm in the respondent's possession and not to purchase or possess any firearm for the duration of the assisted outpatient treatment order; and establishing procedures related to the surrender or seizure of a firearm to law enforcement under the Act. | ||||
Center for Firearm Violence Prevention | HB0223 | Delegate Lopez | Center for Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention - Resources, Tools, and Educational Materials | Hearing canceled | Judiciary | Altering the powers of the Center for Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention to include the creation of certain resources, tools, and educational materials related to firearms; and authorizing the Center to consult with State and local agencies and third-party organizations in carrying out those powers. | ||||
Child's Access to Firearms - Penalty | SB0362 | Senator Attar | Criminal Law - Child's Access to Firearms - Penalty (Ny'Kala Strawder Act) | Hearing 2/11 at 2:00 p.m. | Judicial Proceedings | Altering the penalty to add imprisonment not exceeding 5 years for storing or leaving a loaded firearm in a location where the person knew or should have known that an unsupervised minor has access to the firearm. | ||||
Firearms-Waiting Period Exceptions | HB0126 | SB0027 | Delegate Pippy | Regulated Firearms - Seven-Day Waiting Period - Exceptions | Hearing 2/04 at 1:00 p.m. | Judiciary | Oppose | Exempting a sale, rental, or transfer of a regulated firearm from the seven-day waiting period requirement if the purchaser, renter, or receiver of the firearm is a law enforcement officer, a retired law enforcement officer who retired in good standing, or an individual with a permit to wear, carry, or transport a handgun. | ||
Firearms-Waiting Period Exceptions | SB0027 | HB0126 | Senator Folden | Regulated Firearms - Seven-Day Waiting Period - Exceptions | Hearing 1/27 at 1:00 p.m. | Judicial Proceedings | Oppose | Exempting a sale, rental, or transfer of a regulated firearm from the seven-day waiting period requirement if the purchaser, renter, or receiver of the firearm is a law enforcement officer, a retired law enforcement officer who retired in good standing, or an individual with a permit to wear, carry, or transport a handgun; etc. | ||
Gun Theft Felony Act | HB0863 | Delegate Schmidt | Gun Theft Felony Act of 2026 | Hearing 2/25 at 1:00 p.m. | Judiciary | Classifying the theft of a firearm as a felony; establishing a penalty for a first conviction for theft of a firearm of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding $1,000 or both; and establishing a penalty for subsequent convictions of imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $2,500 or both. | ||||
Gun Violence Victim Relocation Program | HB0605 | Delegate Addison | Public Safety - Gun Violence Victim Relocation Program - Establishment | Hearing 2/25 at 1:00 p.m. | Judiciary | Establishing the Gun Violence Victim Relocation Program within the Victim Services Unit of the Governor's Office of Crime Prevention and Policy to provide certain victims of gun violence certain services and assistance related to relocating for the safety of the victim or the victim's family; establishing the Gun Violence Victim Relocation Program Fund; requiring the Victim Services Unit to establish a certain oversight commission; requiring the Unit to submit a yearly status report on the Program by December 1, beginning in 2028; etc. | ||||
Handbook on Handgun Wear/Carry Laws | HB0303 | Delegate Grammer | Handguns - Wear, Carry, and Transport Laws - Handbook Publication | Hearing 2/17 at 1:00 p.m. | Government, Labor, and Elections | Requiring, by October 1, 2026, and each October 1 thereafter, the Office of the Attorney General to publish a handbook summarizing State law, federal law, and case law related to wearing, carrying, and transporting a handgun in public in Maryland; and requiring the handbook to be drafted in plain language so it can be easily understood without special knowledge of relevant law and in a format that can be easily used to teach certain required firearms courses. | ||||
Handgun Permits – Firearms Training Course | SB0677 | Senator Folden | Public Safety - Handgun Permits - Firearms Training Course | First Reading Judicial Proceedings | Judicial Proceedings | Altering the requirements for a certain firearms training course that an applicant for a permit to carry, wear, or transport a handgun must successfully complete. | ||||
Literature for Purchasers of Firearms | HB0875 | Delegate Simmons | Public Safety - Distribution of Literature to Purchasers of Firearms and Ammunition | Hearing 2/25 at 1:00 p.m. | Judiciary | Requiring the Maryland Department of Health to prepare certain literature relating to firearms and ammunition and to distribute the literature to all county health departments in the State; requiring each county health department to distribute certain literature to all establishments that sell firearms or ammunition within the county; requiring establishments that sell firearms or ammunition in the State to make certain literature visible and available and to distribute the literature to purchasers of firearms and ammunition; etc. | ||||
Permit Renewal - Retired Police | SB0331 | HB0094 | Senator Folden | Public Safety - Handgun Permits - Expiration and Renewal Periods for Retired Law Enforcement Officer | Hearing 2/05 at 1:00 p.m. | Judicial Proceedings | Establishing alternative expiration and renewal periods for a handgun permit issued to a retired law enforcement officer who retired in good standing from service with a law enforcement agency of the State or a county or municipal corporation of the State; and providing that a handgun permit issued to a law enforcement officer who retired in good standing expires on the last day of the holder's birth month following 5 years after the date the permit is issued and may be renewed for successive periods of 5 years under certain circumstances. | |||
Permit Renewal - Retired Police | HB0094 | SB0331 | Delegate Valentine | Public Safety - Handgun Permits - Expiration and Renewal Periods for Retired Law Enforcement Officer | Hearing 1/28 at 1:00 p.m. | Judiciary | Establishing alternative expiration and renewal periods for a handgun permit issued to a retired law enforcement officer who retired in good standing from service with a law enforcement agency of the State or a county or municipal corporation of the State; and providing that a handgun permit issued to a law enforcement officer who retired in good standing expires on the last day of the holder's birth month following 5 years after the date the permit is issued and may be renewed for successive periods of 5 years under certain circumstances. | |||
Potential Compromise of Security Features | HB0284 | SB0160 | Chair, Judiciary Committee | Public Safety - Licensed Firearms Dealers - Notification Regarding Potential Compromise of Security Features | Hearing 2/04 at 1:00 p.m. | Judiciary | Support | Requiring a certain licensed firearms dealer to notify the Secretary of State Police within 24 hours after discovering that certain security features may have been compromised. | ||
Potential Compromise of Security Features | SB0160 | HB0284 | Chair, Judicial Proceedings Committee | Public Safety - Licensed Firearms Dealers - Notification Regarding Potential Compromise of Security Features | Hearing 1/21 at 11:00 a.m. | Judicial Proceedings | Support | Requiring a certain licensed firearms dealer to notify the Secretary of State Police within 24 hours after discovering that certain security features may have been compromised. | ||
Right to Carry | HB0365 | Delegate Grammer | Firearms - Right to Purchase, Own, Possess, and Carry | Hearing 2/04 at 1:00 p.m. | Judiciary | Oppose | Providing that a person may not be denied the right to purchase, own, possess, or carry a firearm solely on the basis that the person is authorized to use medical cannabis. | |||
School Resource Officers | SB0454 | Senator Jennings | Public Schools - School Resource Officers - Firearms Required | Hearing 2/11 at 2:00 p.m. | Judicial Proceedings | Oppose | Repealing a certain provision of law relating to a certain school police officer's authorization to carry a firearm under certain circumstances; and requiring a school resource officer to carry a firearm while present on the premises of the school to which the officer is assigned. | |||
Wearing, Carrying, or Transporting a Handgun | SB0620 | HB1061 | Senator Watson | Criminal Law - Wearing, Carrying, or Transporting a Handgun - Prior Convictions | Hearing 2/17 at 1:00 p.m. | Judicial Proceedings | Altering the list of convictions that subject a defendant to enhanced sentencing for wearing, carrying, or transporting a handgun to include certain extra-jurisdictional crimes. | |||
Wearing, Carrying, or Transporting a Handgun | HB1061 | SB0620 | Delegate Williams | Criminal Law - Wearing, Carrying, or Transporting a Handgun - Prior Convictions | First Reading Judiciary | Judiciary | Altering the list of convictions that subject a defendant to enhanced sentencing for wearing, carrying, or transporting a handgun to include certain extra-jurisdictional crimes. |
bottom of page