Does Maryland Have an Assault Weapons Ban?

Maryland Criminal Law section 4-301 defines an assault long gun through an enumerated list and defines a copycat weapon separately. For a semiautomatic centerfire rifle that accepts a detachable magazine, the copycat test requires any two of a folding stock, grenade or flare launcher, and flash suppressor.

A fixed magazine over 10 rounds and an overall length below 29 inches are independent rifle criteria. Section 4-303 ties the possession exception to lawful possession, a purchase order, or a completed purchase application before October 1, 2013.

There has been no federal assault weapons ban since the 1994 ban expired in 2004; no feature restrictions apply federally to semi-automatic rifles or pistols. The 2023 ATF pistol-brace rule was vacated by the courts and is not enforced, but federal SBR classification for a brace-equipped firearm still turns on whether the specific weapon is designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder. Garland v. Cargill (2024) held that a bump stock is not a machine gun under federal law. Feature bans are entirely a matter of state law.

Federal baseline verified 2026-10-20. Scope: State laws restricting semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns by configuration features: threaded barrels, pistol grips, folding or telescoping stocks, flash suppressors, forward grips, and similar. Magazine capacity limits are tracked as a separate class.