Maryland lawmakers have sent a bill to Governor Wes Moore’s desk that would ban most Glock pistols and Glock clones, making it the second state in the nation, after California, to attempt a Glock ban.
Prince George’s County Democrat Del. Nicole Williams introduced the bill in the Maryland House of Delegates as HB 577. A Senate companion bill (SB 334) was introduced by Montgomery County Democrat Sen. Sara Love. Both bills passed the legislature after party-line votes. The legislation criminalizes the transfer of any pistols with a cruciform trigger bar after January 2027. These pistols include Gen 1-5 Glocks and Glock clones. Glocks are one of the most popular firearms brands in the country.
“If you currently own one, you can keep it,” said Williams during the House debate on the bill. “No one is taking your gun away. If Glock modifies its design, you can purchase that new version.”
The bill’s sponsor calls pistols with cruciform trigger bars “machine gun convertible pistols.” They point to so-called “Glock switches” as evidence that these firearms are especially dangerous.
Glock switches enable a user to convert a semi-automatic pistol into a fully automatic machine gun. These devices have largely been imported from Chinese websites. Since these devices were all produced after the passing of the 1986 Hughes Amendment, all these machine gun conversion devices (MCDs) are already illegal on the federal level and are specifically banned by Maryland state law for the general public.
The bill was supported by Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun group Everytown for Gun Safety. The Baltimore Police Department also campaigned for the bill’s passage. Maryland and Baltimore have both sued Glock over its designs. Glock has redesigned their pistols to make them harder to convert into machine guns. While Glock changed its designs, multiple other companies still use cruciform trigger bars. Glocks remain popular choices for self-defense.
“The danger posed by a firearm modified in this manner is difficult to overstate,” the Police Department said in written testimony. Once the trigger is pulled on a converted weapon, it will “continue to fire, sometimes at a rate of up to 1,200 rounds per minute, until there is no more ammunition.”
Glocks make up a large portion of gun sales for federal firearms licensees (FFL). AmmoLand was informed that Glock sales account for 30% to 40% of all gun sales at Hafer’s Guns in Hagerstown, Maryland. The banning of these pistols will cut into the profits of gun stores, causing them financial hardship. Although Democratic lawmakers claim the law is needed for public safety, gun rights advocates say the bill’s purpose is actually to add hardship for gun owners and gun stores.
Although average Maryland citizens will be banned from acquiring the guns, the bill does have a carveout for those with special privileges. Current and retired police officers are still allowed to buy and transfer the guns. Members of the military will also be allowed to buy older Glocks and Glock clones. Many believe these special privileges are unfair for those who need the guns the most – the average citizens who live in high-crime areas.
The law is expected to be signed by Governor Moore. Legal commentators expect the restriction to be challenged in court because it is constitutionally doubtful.
The United States Supreme Court ruled in Heller that arms in common use cannot be banned. Glock-style pistols are among the most common firearms in the country, accounting for a large share of pistol sales. The Supreme Court’s landmark Bruen opinion also stated that if a conduct is covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment, the state must provide analogues from the founding era to prove a law is consistent with the history and tradition of the nation’s firearms regulations. Maryland will have a hard time providing those analogues.
If the two anti-gun states’ laws are upheld, it could start a tidal wave of bans across liberal states.
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About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
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