Maryland lawmakers reintroduce bill to encourage states to adopt handgun licensing laws

By JT Moodee Lockman

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    BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Two Maryland lawmakers reintroduced a bill that would create federal incentives for state and local governments to enact gun licensing laws.

The Handgun Permit to Purchase Act would require individuals to obtain a license before buying a handgun, Senator Chris Van Hollen and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said.

Sen. Van Hollen first introduced the legislation in 2015.

The proposed bill would create a federal grant program to incentivize state and local governments across the U.S. to establish handgun licensing laws. The grant recipient would have to require that prospective handgun owners apply for a permit, submit a background check and be 21 years or older.

The licensing laws must also require individuals to renew their permits within five years.

According to lawmakers, 14 states, including Maryland – and the District of Columbia, have laws that require handgun licenses.

The proposed legislation comes shortly after the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the state’s strict gun licensing law, leaving it in place.

The challenge argued that Maryland’s 2013 Handgun Qualification Licensing Law violated the Second Amendment by making it too hard for individuals to get guns.

The law requires that individuals get safety training, submit their fingerprints and submit a background check before they can buy a handgun. It was passed after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.

The law was struck down by an appeals court after a 2022 Supreme Court decision that expanded gun rights and was later revived after an appeals court found it fits within historic firearm regulations.

“Maryland’s law is a prime example of a common-sense firearm safety measure that the Handgun Permit to Purchase Act is designed to incentivize in other states across the country,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.

Handgun licensing laws are proven to reduce firearm homicides, according to a study by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in 2015. Between 1984 and 2015, these laws were associated with an 11% drop in firearm homicides in urban counties.

An analysis of Maryland’s Handgun Qualification Licensing Law found it was associated with an 82% drop in the Baltimore Police Department’s recovery of handguns with key indications they were used for criminal activities.

Maryland cracks down on gun violence

Maryland has cracked down on gun violence in recent years.

The state created a first-of-its-kind Center for Firearm Violence Prevention in 2024 after the White House urged states to address gun violence.

In 2024, Gov. Wes Moore signed a measure allowing state and local officials to hold the firearm industry accountable in civil court. Another bill expanded the definition and banned “rapid fire trigger activators” or Glock switches.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general to hold the firearm industry accountable for its impact on gun violence in 2024.

“Gun violence tears our communities apart and threatens Maryland families’ safety,” Attorney General Brown said. “The companies that make up the firearms industry must do their part to help us address this life-threatening epidemic.”

The Attorney General also joined a group of a dozen Democratic attorneys general to defend two federal gun regulations being challenged in court.

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