Moving from Maryland and back again?

[NIK]

I was wondering... I (sadly) had to leave VA and relocate to MD for work, but I got in before the Oct. 1 date so I'm happy. Got me wondering, if one day I move out of Maryland then back again, would any regulated firearm I legally owned in MD need to be registered through MSP?

Basically, would moving out of MD then back in cause you to "lose" your grandfathering?

 

[swinokur]

I was wondering... I (sadly) had to leave VA and relocate to MD for work, but I got in before the Oct. 1 date so I'm happy. Got me wondering, if one day I move out of Maryland then back again, would any regulated firearm I legally owned in MD need to be registered through MSP? asically, would moving out of MD then back in cause you to "lose" your grandfathering?

Good question. I'd say if it was legally registered once, MSP would not be aware of a move out of state or your eventual return. It would still be on their books.

IANAL however.

 

[swinokur]

Howdy BTW. Join the fight.

www.marylandshallissue.org
.
.

 

[pilotguy299]

Don't ever move back to maryland.

 

[ddeanjohnson]

I was wondering... I (sadly) had to leave VA and relocate to MD for work, but I got in before the Oct. 1 date so I'm happy. Got me wondering, if one day I move out of Maryland then back again, would any regulated firearm I legally owned in MD need to be registered through MSP?

Basically, would moving out of MD then back in cause you to "lose" your grandfathering?

I think you are confusing "grandfathering" with the registration requirement for new residents. They are two different things. If you lose your Maryland residency and then once again establish Maryland residency, you must register all post-1898 handguns and all now-banned "assault" and "copycat" firearms. But if you lawfully owned the now-banned firearms prior to Oct. 1, 2013, they are still legal to keep because they are grandfathered.

 

[Knuckle66]

Don't ever move back to maryland.

LOL

 

[Sourkraut115]

All of the guns that I bought in MD before my brief sojourn in PA are still listed in the MD CJIS system. I checked.

 

[NIK]

I think you are confusing "grandfathering" with the registration requirement for new residents. They are two different things. If you lose your Maryland residency and then once again establish Maryland residency, you must register all post-1898 handguns and all now-banned "assault" and "copycat" firearms. But if you lawfully owned the now-banned firearms prior to Oct. 1, 2013, they are still legal to keep because they are grandfathered.

That's where i am confused... So pretend I have a pistol, an AR and a shotgun, all bought in Maryland back in the 80's. Next year, I move to Nebraska and take my three guns with me. Five years later, I move back into Maryland.

Technically, they were owned IN MARYLAND prior to 10/1, but after 10/1 you leave, establish residence elsewhere, then come back. What's the deal then?

 

[MikeTF]

Don't buy or die in Maryland.

I've moved out. I am never moving back.

I'll visit. My family lives there.

I'll do my level best to insure that I spend little if any money when I'm in Maryland.

 

[Rickman]

Wow, never even considered that a person could get out of MD and move back again, much less do it two times. Well, not true I guess, I was at Ft Detrick from '73-'77 and I came back in 2011 and thought I was doing a good thing getting out of NJ. Not sure I got the better of the deal now. Shoulda bought that house I was looking at in Oxford.

 

[ddeanjohnson]

That's where i am confused... So pretend I have a pistol, an AR and a shotgun, all bought in Maryland back in the 80's. Next year, I move to Nebraska and take my three guns with me. Five years later, I move back into Maryland. Technically, they were owned IN MARYLAND prior to 10/1, but after 10/1 you leave, establish residence elsewhere, then come back. What's the deal then?

It does not matter at all where you acquired the firearms. It does not matter at all that you previously owned them while a resident of Maryland. It does not matter whether or not they were ever recorded in the current Maryland transfer database. If you are a resident of Nebraska, and you move to Maryland, you must register all regulated firearms with 90 days, including the ones that you originally acquired in Maryland. A new on-line form has been developed specifically for this purpose, and you must use this form. The requirement does not apply to garden-variety rifles and shotguns, but to regulated/banned "assault" and "copycat" firearms, and of course to post-1898 handguns (except muzzleloaders).

 

[swinokur]

How would MSP know you moved away? They don't remove firearms from their database when you move.. If you moved away and then returned, isn't the firearm "registered" if it was originally purchased in MD?

 

[ddeanjohnson]

How would MSP know you moved away? They don't remove firearms from their database when you move.. If you moved away and then returned, isn't the firearm "registered" if it was originally purchased in MD?

The short answer is, none of that matters.

It is true that the MSP "don't remove firearms from their database when you move." It is true that one or more of these particular hypothetical firearms may already be listed in that database (although NIK has not provided enough details in his hypothetical to know that for sure). But the way the registration requirement in SB 281/Chapter 427 is worded, none of this has any relevance to the new registration requirement.

The new law creates an entirely new Section 5-143 in the Public Safety Article. It provides that if someone who is not a resident of Maryland moves into Maryland with intent to establish residency, he or she "must register all regulated firearms" within 90 days of establishing residency. The statute specifies that the MSP will develop a form for this purpose, which they have done (it will be completed on line, at least in most cases). The statute even spells out the specific information that must be provided on the form regarding the firearm(s) and the registrant, and provides that a fee of $15 shall be charged "regardless of the number of firearms registered."

This new section is completely separate and distinct from all other firearms restrictions and transfer requirements. Criminal penalties attach to failure to comply with this transfer requirement.

Under the scenario provided by NIK, complying with the law would mean that he submits a form that registers three firearms, all or some of which may have already been in the database due to earlier transfers in Maryland. This matters not a whit with respect to the new-resident registration requirement. There is no exception in the registration law for "regulated firearms that were previously transferred in Maryland."

You write, "How would MSP know you moved away [and then moved back]?" Quite possibly they wouldn't know. This amounts to a observation that sometimes people break laws and don't get caught. But then again, sometimes they do get caught.

We could easily come up with other scenarios in which new residents would be required to register firearms that are already in the Maryland database. For example, John legally buys a new Taurus revolver in Maryland, decides he doesn't like it, and sells it to or through an FFL-dealer in Virginia. Ultimately the revolver is legally sold to Tom, a Virginia resident. Then Tom moves to Maryland, and he brings the Taurus with him. So is Tom required to register the Taurus within 90 days? Yes, of course he is. And the same is true of NIK.