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EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb1417*
HOUSE BILL 1417
E4 6lr0942
HB 353/25 – JUD
By: Delegates Arikan, Baker, Chisholm, Grammer, M. Morgan, Nawrocki, Reilly,
Szeliga, Valentine, and Wivell
Introduced and read first time: February 13, 2026
Assigned to: Judiciary
A BILL ENTITLED
AN ACT concerning 1
Public Safety – Handgun Permit Requirement – Repeal 2
(Maryland Constitutional Carry Act) 3
FOR the purpose of repealing the requirement that a person have a certain permit before 4
the person carries, wears, or transports a handgun; repealing certain criminal 5
prohibitions against a person who is at least a certain age wearing, carrying, or 6
transporting a handgun; and generally relating to wearing, carrying, or transporting 7
a handgun. 8
BY repealing 9
Article – Public Safety 10
Section 5 –301 and 5 –303 through 5 –314 and the subtitle “Subtitle 3. Handgun 11
Permits” 12
Annotated Code of Maryland 13
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 14
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 15
Article – Criminal Law 16
Section 4–101(b) and 4–203(a) and (b) 17
Annotated Code of Maryland 18
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 19
BY adding to 20
Article – Criminal Law 21
Section 4–207 22
Annotated Code of Maryland 23
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 24
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 25
Article – Natural Resources 26
2 HOUSE BILL 1417
Section 10–410(c) 1
Annotated Code of Maryland 2
(2023 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 3
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEM BLY OF MARYLAND, 4
That Section(s) 5 –301 and 5 –303 through 5 –314 and the subtitle “Subtitle 3. Handgun 5
Permits” of Article – Public Safety of the Annotated Code of Maryland be repealed. 6
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the Laws of Maryland read 7
as follows: 8
Article – Criminal Law 9
4–101. 10
(b) This section does not prohibit the following individuals from carrying a 11
weapon: 12
(1) an officer of the State, or of any county or municipal corporation of the 13
State, who is entitled or required to carry the weapon as part of the officer’s official 14
equipment, or by any conservator of the peace, who is entitled or required to carry the 15
weapon as part of the conservator’s official equipment, or by any officer or conservator of 16
the peace of another state who is temporarily in this State; 17
(2) a special agent of a railroad; OR 18
(3) [a holder of a permit to carry a handgun issued under Title 5, Subtitle 19
3 of the Public Safety Article; or 20
(4)] an individual who carries the weapon as a reasonable precaution 21
against apprehended danger, subject to the right of the court in an action arising under 22
this section to judge the reasonableness of the carrying of the weapon, and the proper 23
occasion for carrying it, under the evidence in the case. 24
4–203. 25
(a) (1) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section[, a person may not]: 26
(i) A PERSON UNDER THE A GE OF 21 YEARS MAY NOT wear, 27
carry, or transport a handgun, whether concealed or open, on or about the person; 28
(ii) A PERSON UNDER THE A GE OF 21 YEARS MA Y NOT wear, 29
carry, or knowingly transport a handgun, whether concealed or open, in a vehicle traveling 30
on a road or parking lot generally used by the public, highway, waterway, or airway of the 31
State; 32
HOUSE BILL 1417 3
(iii) [violate item (i) or (ii) of this paragraph ] A PERSON MAY NOT 1
WEAR, CARRY, OR TRANSPORT A HANDGUN, WHETHER CONCEALED OR OPEN, ON OR 2
ABOUT THE PERSON while on public school property in the State; 3
(iv) [violate item (i) or (ii) of this paragraph ] A PERSON MAY NOT 4
WEAR, CARRY, OR TRANSPORT A HANDGUN, WHETHER CONCEALED OR OPEN, ON OR 5
ABOUT THE PERSON with the deliberate purpose of injuring or killing another person; [or] 6
AND 7
(v) [violate item (i) or (ii) of this paragraph] A PERSON UNDER THE 8
AGE OF 21 YEARS MAY NOT WEAR , CARRY, OR TRANSPORT A HANDG UN, WHETHER 9
CONCEALED OR OPEN, ON OR ABOUT THE PERSON with [a] THE handgun loaded with 10
ammunition. 11
(2) There is a rebuttable presumption that a person who transports a 12
handgun under paragraph (1)(ii) of this subsection transports the handgun knowingly. 13
(b) This section does not prohibit: 14
(1) the wearing, carrying, or transporting of a handgun by a person who is 15
authorized at the time and under the circumstances to wear, carr y, or transport the 16
handgun as part of the person’s official equipment, and is: 17
(i) a law enforcement official of the United States, the State, or a 18
county or city of the State; 19
(ii) a member of the armed forces of the United States or of the 20
National Guard on duty or traveling to or from duty; 21
(iii) a law enforcement official of another state or subdivision of 22
another state temporarily in this State on official business; 23
(iv) a correctional officer or warden of a correctional facility in th e 24
State; 25
(v) a sheriff or full–time assistant or deputy sheriff of the State; or 26
(vi) a temporary or part–time sheriff’s deputy; 27
[(2) the wearing, carrying, or transporting of a handgun by a person to 28
whom a permit to wear, carry, or transport t he handgun has been issued under Title 5, 29
Subtitle 3 of the Public Safety Article; 30
(3) the carrying of a handgun on the person or in a vehicle while the person 31
is transporting the handgun to or from the place of legal purchase or sale, or to or from a 32
bona fide repair shop, or between bona fide residences of the person, or between the bona 33
4 HOUSE BILL 1417
fide residence and place of business of the person, if the business is operated and owned 1
substantially by the person if each handgun is unloaded and carried in an enclosed case or 2
an enclosed holster;] 3
[(4)] (2) the wearing, carrying, or transporting by a person of a handgun 4
used in connection with an organized military activity, a target shoot, formal or informal 5
target practice, sport shooting event, hunting, a Department of Natural 6
Resources–sponsored firearms and hunter safety class, trapping, or a dog obedience 7
training class or show, while the person is engaged in, on the way to, or returning from that 8
activity if each handgun is unloaded and carried in an enclosed case or an enclosed holster; 9
OR 10
[(5) the moving by a bona fide gun collector of part or all of the collector’s 11
gun collection from place to place for public or private exhibition if each handgun is 12
unloaded and carried in an enclosed case or an enclosed holster; 13
(6) the wearing, carrying, or transporting of a handgun by a person on real 14
estate that the person owns or leases or where the person resides or within the confines of 15
a business establishment that the person owns or leases; 16
(7) the wearing, carrying, or transporting of a handgun by a supervisory 17
employee: 18
(i) in the course of employment; 19
(ii) within the confines of the business establishment in which the 20
supervisory employee is employed; and 21
(iii) when so authorized by the owner or manager of the business 22
establishment;] 23
[(8)] (3) the carrying or transporting of a signal pistol or other visual 24
distress signal approved by the United States Coast Guard in a vessel on the waterways of 25
the State or, if the signal pistol or other visual distress signal is unloaded and carried in an 26
enclosed case, in a vehicle[; or 27
(9) the wearing, carrying, or transporting of a handgun by a person who is 28
carrying a court order requiring the surrender of the handgun, if: 29
(i) the handgun is unloaded; 30
(ii) the person has notified the law enforcement unit, barracks, or 31
station that the handgun is being transported in accordance with the court order; and 32
(iii) the person transports the handgun directly to the law 33
enforcement unit, barracks, or station]. 34
HOUSE BILL 1417 5
4–207. 1
(A) A PERSON MAY NOT WEAR, CARRY, OR TRANSPORT A HANDGUN WHILE 2
THE PERSON IS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL OR DRUGS. 3
(B) A PERSON WHO VIOLATES THIS SECTION IS GUILTY OF A MISDEMEANOR 4
AND ON CONVICTION IS SUBJECT TO IMPRISONMENT NOT EXCEEDING 1 YEAR OR A 5
FINE NOT EXCEEDING $1,000 OR BOTH. 6
Article – Natural Resources 7
10–410. 8
(c) (1) A person may not shoot at any species of wildlife from an automobile or 9
other vehicle or, except as provided in § 4–203(b) of the Criminal Law Article [and Title 5, 10
Subtitle 3 of the Public Safety Article], possess in or on an automobile or other vehicle a 11
loaded handgun or shotgun, or a rifle containing any ammunition in the magazine or 12
chamber. 13
(2) If this subsection is violated by an occupant of a vehicle which has 2 or 14
more occupants and it cannot be determined which occupant is the violator, the owner of 15
the vehicle, if present, shall be presumed to be responsible for the violation. In the absence 16
of the owner of the vehicle, the operator of the vehicle shall be presumed to be responsi ble 17
for the violation. 18
(3) Provisions of this subsection do not apply to a disabled person who 19
obtains a special permit under § 10–307 of this title. 20
SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 21
October 1, 2026. 22