Maryland Supreme Court Strikes Down Local Gun Control Laws

Bearingarms ^ | 4/29/26 | Cam Edwards

[CFW]

Gun owners have won a significant victory in Maryland, with the state Supreme Court tossing several gun control ordinances adopted by Montgomery County in the wake of the Bruen decision in 2022.

Maryland legislators passed their own Bruen response bill after the state's "may issue" concealed carry permitting system was ruled unconstitutional by SCOTUS, but Montgomery County's measures were even more restrictive.

The Maryland Supreme Court opinion is thick with legalese and citations to various sections of code that can make it a little difficult to understand the scope of its decision, but the 2A group Maryland Shall Issue provided a succinct summary of the ruling on Tuesday evening.

The Supreme Court of Maryland issued its decision today in our challenge to the Montgomery County ordinance that basically banned carry by permit holders through out the County. On that issue we completely prevailed and the County lost.

Specifically the Court held that the County's ban "is not a local law because of its application to holders of State-issued wear-and-carry permits traveling on public highways who cross within 100 yards of a place of public assembly." That means that permit holders may carry in Montgomery County without regard to the County's ordinance as long as they remain in compliance with State law. By any measure, we count that as a huge WIN!

The whole point of the County's ordinance was to make it impossible for permit holders to carry in the County after the decision by the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen. On that point, the County lost completely.

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TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; banglist; firearms; laws; maryland; montgomerycounty

[CFW]

continued

The Maryland Supreme Court issued other rulings as well, holding that County's regulation of so-called "ghost guns" was preempted by State law "to the extent it includes firearms that have been serialized in compliance with federal and State law." That means that persons may transport personally made firearms to FFLs and FFLs in the County [and] may serialize personally made frames and receivers in accordance with State law.

The Court also struck down as preempted a section of the County's ordinance which banned a "broad swath of otherwise lawful (and constitutionally protected) conduct by adults merely because it occurs in the presence of a minor, without any apparent connection to whether that activity might result in minors gaining unsupervised access to those firearms." The lesson to County residents and others: get a carry permit and carry in accordance with State law.

[CFW]

In other 2nd Amendment news, the DOJ/ATF held a press conference this afternoon announcing that they are rewriting ATF firearms regulations to rescind several sections and amend others to make them less confusing for law-abiding citizens.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6394186989112

[CFW]

“New Funding Bill for DOJ Includes Big Cut to ATF Budget, Deregulation of Some NFA Items”

Rep. Andrew Clyde
@Rep_Clyde

🚨BREAKING: Pro-2A wins in the FY27 CJS appropriations bill:

✅ Cuts ATF budget by $285M
✅ Defunds ATF’s illegal gun registry
✅ Defunds EVERY Biden-era ATF rule
✅ Prohibits NFA registration
✅ Reduces NFA wait times
✅ Prohibits gun buyback programs
✅ Defunds “Red Flag” laws

https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/04/29/new-funding-bill-for-doj-includes-big-cut-to-atf-budget-deregulation-of-some-nfa-items-n1232370

[AlaskaErik]

Not much of a victory. Maryland state gun control laws are among the most draconian already.