FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today issued the following statement after the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland denied the plaintiffs’ motions for a preliminary injunction in Bathras v. Moore, leaving in place Senate Bill 334, Maryland’s product design law prohibiting the sale and transfer of pistols with a cruciform trigger bar that can be easily converted into machine guns.
“Maryland has the right to protect its communities from weapons that can be rapidly turned into machine guns. Modified handguns are being used in and recovered from crimes at an increasing rate, and the General Assembly acted responsibly to confront this crisis. Today’s ruling is an important first step, and it means this law stays in place while the case moves forward. I am grateful to the attorneys in our Office who defended this law so ably, and we will keep defending it at every stage of this litigation.”
Senate Bill 334 generally prohibits the manufacture, sale, purchase, receipt, or transfer of machine gun convertible pistols beginning January 1, 2027. The law does not prohibit Marylanders from keeping such pistols they already own. Today, Judge Richard D. Bennett heard arguments on the plaintiffs’ motions and denied them through an oral ruling, with an opinion and order forthcoming.
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