ddeanjohnson
autodidact
- Aug 21, 2010
- 801
As of October 1, 2013, a Handgun Qualification License (HQL) will be required to "purchase, rent, or receive" a handgun, with certain exceptions.
"Purchase" is pretty self-explanatory, and "rent" is defined in the law (basically, it refers to renting for off-premises use, not renting at the range), but "receive" is not defined in the law. One concern that I have expressed, beginning when the bill was still under consideration in the General Assembly, was that "receive" could be construed to apply to a number of common scenarios in which persons come into temporary possession of a handgun or inherit handguns, or wish to do so.
No definition or other elucidation of the scope of "receive" has appeared in any version of the draft MSP regulations so far circulated. Therefore, I submitted three detailed scenarios to the MSP to ask whether a HQL would be required in each. All three scenarios involved hypothetical persons who come into possession of a handgun or handguns, or wish to do so, without possessing the HQL. (By the way, the hypothetical handguns are of recent manufacture, no "curios or relics.") The hypothetical persons are over age 21, and are not disqualified by criminal history or for any other reason, under federal or state law, from possessing a handgun -- so the only issue is, do they also require the HQL?
Scenario no. 1 involved a boyfriend taking his girlfriend, over age 21, to the gun club to try out a handgun for the first time. I referred to this type of scenario as "temporary receipt for purposes of informal instruction or sporting purposes."
Scenario no. 2 involved the boyfriend then loaning the handgun to the girlfriend to keep at her residence for defense, while she goes through the process of obtaining a HQL and purchasing her own handgun, with the understanding that she will return the handgun to the owner as soon as she lawfully acquires a new handgun. I referred to this type of scenario as a "bona fide loan."
Scenario no. 3 involved a gun collector who dies and wills a substantial number of valuable, recent-vintage handguns to his widow, who by reason of personal disinclination and/or visual impairment, does not possess and will not obtain a HQL.
There was some initial confusion when the Licensing Section chief answered one question when I thought he was answering another, but this was cleared up in an email this morning, in which MSP Lt. John Cook said, "A HQL would not be needed for Scenario 1 (temporary receipt for purposes of informal instruction or sporting purposes) and Scenario 2 (bona fide loans)."
Regarding inheritance of handguns, this is the answer that I received, paraphrased: Handguns may be passed on by inheritance to Maryland residents who do not possess a HQL. This is because Public Safety Article Title 5 (Firearms), Subtitle 1 (the subtitle containing the laws on regulated firearms), contains a provision that specifies that Subtitle 1 "does not apply" to certain things, one of these being "(8) the receipt of a regulated firearm by inheritance, if the heir forwards to the Secretary a completed application to purchase or transfer that regulated firearm. . ." This is not new language from SB 281, but longstanding law. According to MSP Lt. John Cook, who heads the Licensing Section, "Because inheritance is generally exempted from the Subtitle 1, it is exempted from the HQL requirement." (Source: Email, Sept. 16, 2013)
This is certainly helpful information, but a number of questions remain as to where the requirement for a HQL begins -- i.e., the meaning and scope of the term "receive."
"Purchase" is pretty self-explanatory, and "rent" is defined in the law (basically, it refers to renting for off-premises use, not renting at the range), but "receive" is not defined in the law. One concern that I have expressed, beginning when the bill was still under consideration in the General Assembly, was that "receive" could be construed to apply to a number of common scenarios in which persons come into temporary possession of a handgun or inherit handguns, or wish to do so.
No definition or other elucidation of the scope of "receive" has appeared in any version of the draft MSP regulations so far circulated. Therefore, I submitted three detailed scenarios to the MSP to ask whether a HQL would be required in each. All three scenarios involved hypothetical persons who come into possession of a handgun or handguns, or wish to do so, without possessing the HQL. (By the way, the hypothetical handguns are of recent manufacture, no "curios or relics.") The hypothetical persons are over age 21, and are not disqualified by criminal history or for any other reason, under federal or state law, from possessing a handgun -- so the only issue is, do they also require the HQL?
Scenario no. 1 involved a boyfriend taking his girlfriend, over age 21, to the gun club to try out a handgun for the first time. I referred to this type of scenario as "temporary receipt for purposes of informal instruction or sporting purposes."
Scenario no. 2 involved the boyfriend then loaning the handgun to the girlfriend to keep at her residence for defense, while she goes through the process of obtaining a HQL and purchasing her own handgun, with the understanding that she will return the handgun to the owner as soon as she lawfully acquires a new handgun. I referred to this type of scenario as a "bona fide loan."
Scenario no. 3 involved a gun collector who dies and wills a substantial number of valuable, recent-vintage handguns to his widow, who by reason of personal disinclination and/or visual impairment, does not possess and will not obtain a HQL.
There was some initial confusion when the Licensing Section chief answered one question when I thought he was answering another, but this was cleared up in an email this morning, in which MSP Lt. John Cook said, "A HQL would not be needed for Scenario 1 (temporary receipt for purposes of informal instruction or sporting purposes) and Scenario 2 (bona fide loans)."
Regarding inheritance of handguns, this is the answer that I received, paraphrased: Handguns may be passed on by inheritance to Maryland residents who do not possess a HQL. This is because Public Safety Article Title 5 (Firearms), Subtitle 1 (the subtitle containing the laws on regulated firearms), contains a provision that specifies that Subtitle 1 "does not apply" to certain things, one of these being "(8) the receipt of a regulated firearm by inheritance, if the heir forwards to the Secretary a completed application to purchase or transfer that regulated firearm. . ." This is not new language from SB 281, but longstanding law. According to MSP Lt. John Cook, who heads the Licensing Section, "Because inheritance is generally exempted from the Subtitle 1, it is exempted from the HQL requirement." (Source: Email, Sept. 16, 2013)
This is certainly helpful information, but a number of questions remain as to where the requirement for a HQL begins -- i.e., the meaning and scope of the term "receive."
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