Judge Lets Maryland’s Glock Ban Stand

A federal judge in Maryland refused to block the state’s ban on Glock pistols Monday, arguing it was “consistent with restrictions on excessively dangerous weapons.”

Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed legislation in May that banned the sale of Glock pistols by labeling them “machinegun convertible pistols,” one of a handful of states targeting the popular semiautomatic pistol over illegal modifications. United States Senior District Judge Richard D. Bennett, a George W. Bush appointee, issued his written opinion Monday, making an earlier bench ruling allowing the ban to take effect official.

“The Court finds that Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate a clear likelihood of success on the merits. Plaintiffs have demonstrated that SB 334 covers conduct within the Second Amendment’s plain text,” Bennett wrote. “However, Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success at Bruen’s Step 2. Defendants have introduced well-documented evidence that SB 334 fits within the country’s historic tradition of regulating technologically advanced weapons which have the ‘potential for widespread criminal abuse or [an] unreasonable capacity to inflict casualties.’”

Maryland attorneys told a federal court in August that the state could ban Glock pistols despite their popularity among Americans, even though the landmark 2008 Heller decision invalidated Washington, D.C.’s ban on handguns on the grounds that firearms that were commonly used for lawful purposes could not be banned due to the Second Amendment.

“We were disappointed that the court denied our request for preliminary injunction and allowed Maryland’s unconstitutional Glock ban to take effect,” Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) Senior Director of Litigation Bill Sack told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The opinion makes a number of analytical errors that are unfortunately consistent with the errors made by the Fourth Circuit on similar issues. We are confident that the appeal process and ultimately the Supreme Court will strike this law down.”

On Sept. 30, United States District Judge Kari A. Dooley of the District of Connecticut, a Trump appointee, said that Connecticut’s ban on Glock pistols failed the testing process established by the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.

Under the Supreme Court’s rulings in Heller and Bruen, firearms in common use for lawful purposes fall under the Second Amendment’s protection. Glock pistols are among the most popular in the United States, regularly appearing in lists of the most-sold firearms compiled by outlets like Guns and Guns and Ammo magazine.

In addition to being popular among law-abiding citizens, Glock pistols are also used by numerous law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which has issued versions of the handgun to its agents since 1997. Former Vice President Kamala Harris boasted on multiple occasions about owning a Glock pistol she acquired for personal protection.

Under current federal law, it is illegal to possess or manufacture a fully-automatic firearm that is not registered or authorized under the provisions of the National Firearms Act. The penalty for violating the NFA is ten years in federal prison.