The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) says it is preparing to challenge in court newly passed Maryland legislation that would restrict certain semiautomatic, striker-fired pistols if the bills are signed by Gov. Wes Moore.
The measures, Senate Bill 334 and House Bill 557, would prohibit the manufacture, sale, offering for sale, purchase, receipt, or transfer of specified semiautomatic pistols that the bills describe as “machine gun convertible pistols.” Under the bills’ approach, the Maryland Department of State Police would be directed to publish a list of handgun models covered by the prohibition.
NSSF’s expected lawsuit would likely argue that the legislation bans a broad class of commonly owned, lawfully manufactured and sold handguns, and that this type of categorical prohibition violates the Second Amendment under current U.S. Supreme Court precedent. NSSF has said it would seek to have the state justify the ban in court.
How the bills define the targeted pistols is central to how widely the ban could apply. The bills’ language describes covered pistols as those with a “cruciform trigger bar” that Maryland lawmakers say can be readily converted by replacing the slide backplate with an illegal “machinegun conversion device” (MCD). In practical terms, that description is commonly associated with Glock-pattern striker-fired pistols and some similar designs that use a cruciform-style trigger bar interface.
Because the bills tie prohibited status to design features rather than a short list of named brands, the final Maryland State Police roster could potentially include widely used handgun families that share the described internal geometry, including common Glock models (such as Glock 17, 19, 26, 34, 45, and similar variants) and other Glock-compatible pistols that use comparable trigger bar and slide backplate arrangements. The bills themselves do not provide a complete model-by-model list; instead, the list would be published by the Maryland Department of State Police.
The proposed restriction includes exemptions for law enforcement, and NSSF noted that some models that could be covered are used by Maryland law enforcement agencies.
If enacted, the ban would take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
Separately, NSSF is urging gun owners to avoid illegal modifications. The group notes that installing, possessing, making, importing, or selling a conversion device intended to make a semiautomatic firearm fire automatically is prohibited under federal law. NSSF points to National Firearms Act penalties that can include up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
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