Active Duty Military

Jimbo · Mar 18, 2015

I posted this as part of my intro in the Introduction thread but, figured this would be a better place for it. Any straight up answers would be great, I'm tired of reading into all these laws.

Im up in CT now and they changed alot of their laws due to Sandy Hook and other things that happened around the nation. In the recent changes it does state that military is not susceptible to alot of the new laws. Does MD have any type of, I guess "pass," for military members? Its kind of hard to move every 3 years with certain firearms. Active duty military are still allowed to buy high cap mags, and certain firearms that a civilian is not able to. Its not only military but, law enforcement, correctional officers, and certain state department personnel are also allowed. If anyone can hep me out that would be greatly appreciated. Any "easy to read" literature that says flat out what is allowed, not allowed, purchasing, legal, illegal would be appreciated.

Gskwared · Mar 18, 2015

Jimbo said:
I posted this as part of my intro in the Introduction thread but, figured this would be a better place for it. Any straight up answers would be great, I'm tired of reading into all these laws.

Im up in CT now and they changed alot of their laws due to Sandy Hook and other things that happened around the nation. In the recent changes it does state that military is not susceptible to alot of the new laws. Does MD have any type of, I guess "pass," for military members? Its kind of hard to move every 3 years with certain firearms. Active duty military are still allowed to buy high cap mags, and certain firearms that a civilian is not able to. Its not only military but, law enforcement, correctional officers, and certain state department personnel are also allowed. If anyone can hep me out that would be greatly appreciated. Any "easy to read" literature that says flat out what is allowed, not allowed, purchasing, legal, illegal would be appreciated.

I don't think there is a military exemption here in MD. Afaik if you bought a Md banned weapon after 10/1/13 you cannot bring it into our state. You will be exempted from the HQL requirements to purchase a handgun.

For the record I am Air Force. Btw do NOT make md your permeant home.

cmb286 · Mar 18, 2015

correct on all three points

Biggfoot44 · Mar 19, 2015

What they said.

Unfortunately there is no *easy to read* guide , because a lot of the details are still being made up as they go by MSP. Hopefully once the new MSP Supt is confirmed and gets up to speed , things will become more rational in the future.

Reviewing what was already in this thread , a little more detail on magazines. You can NOT buy, sell, offer to sell , or transfer mags > 10rd IN Maryland. You MAY posses , use , bring with you when you move in , travel out of state to purchase and bring back mags of any size.

Pinecone · Mar 19, 2015

OK, basic list:

Any handguns you purchased out of state are OK to bring in, except for those on the Assualt Pistol list if purchased before August 1, 1994.

As active duty mil, you do not have to change your residence to MD when you are stationed here. If you do change your residency, you must register your regulated firearms (handguns and the specified list of long guns) within 90 days.

You may pring in any long guns purchased before Oct 1, 2013. If you have any of the long guns on the list, and purchased them on or after Oct 1, 2013, you may NOT bring them into the state.

Magazines are fine to bring with you and are legal to possess.

Jimbo · Mar 22, 2015

Thanks for all the info. Im originally from MD and i'm getting stationed back home in acouple of months. I actually changed my state of residency to Kentucky for tax purposes and because my wife is from there so hopefully that means something. But, I do have a MD license and for all intensive purposes, MD is what I have always called home. Im glad to hear about bringing high cap mags but, I guess i'll just never take some things out of the house.

Jimbo · Mar 23, 2015

I thought I read something about an AR15 with a HBAR heavy barrel is legal. Is this true? Cause I can mod acouple of mine out with HBAR barrels and I should be good, Can any one shed some light on this thing I heard about an AR15 with a HBAR being legal? Yay or Nay? Thanks.

breimer273 · Mar 23, 2015

Jimbo said:
I thought I read something about an AR15 with a HBAR heavy barrel is legal. Is this true? Cause I can mod acouple of mine out with HBAR barrels and I should be good, Can any one shed some light on this thing I heard about an AR15 with a HBAR being legal? Yay or Nay? Thanks.

Correct HBARs are legal. However, I personally probably would not go down the route of just swapping out the uppers if the rifle was purchased after 10/1/13, unless the lower was purchased as a stripped lower, classified as "other firearm", or as an HBAR to begin with. Could get you in trouble.

Don't take my word for it.

I believe MD would still consider you a resident because you have a MD driver's license, which means you would have to register your firearms. Again, don't take my word for it.

If you still have an address in KY, or even if not as long as it says KY on your LES you should be able to get a KY driver's license. That's the route I would go. I did a similar thing with FL.

IANAL.

dontpanic · Mar 23, 2015

breimer273 said:
Correct HBARs are legal. However, I personally probably would not go down the route of just swapping out the uppers if the rifle was purchased after 10/1/13, unless the lower was purchased as a stripped lower, classified as "other firearm", or as an HBAR to begin with. Could get you in trouble.

As long as the rifle is in a legal configuration, it does not matter what it was before.

If your AR was bought before 10/1/2015 and you do not want to register it. Put an HBAR upper on it.

If it was bought after that date, the only way you can bring it to MD is as an HBAR.

(Strange but true: another way to bring it to MD is as a SBR with a OAL > 29") of course with an approved tax stamp.

wilcam47 · Mar 23, 2015

Jimbo said:
I posted this as part of my intro in the Introduction thread but, figured this would be a better place for it. Any straight up answers would be great, I'm tired of reading into all these laws.

Im up in CT now and they changed alot of their laws due to Sandy Hook and other things that happened around the nation. In the recent changes it does state that military is not susceptible to alot of the new laws. Does MD have any type of, I guess "pass," for military members? Its kind of hard to move every 3 years with certain firearms. Active duty military are still allowed to buy high cap mags, and certain firearms that a civilian is not able to. Its not only military but, law enforcement, correctional officers, and certain state department personnel are also allowed. If anyone can hep me out that would be greatly appreciated. Any "easy to read" literature that says flat out what is allowed, not allowed, purchasing, legal, illegal would be appreciated.

...just because you are active duty doesnt mean you can get the high cap mags in MD...You had to be SFS and in the performance of your job. We had guys that bought AR's with special squadron engravings but still couldnt keep the higher cap magazines that the rifle came with even as active duty.
Military members have to comply with the states laws on firearms. You can have dual residency...ie your previous state where your drivers license is and MD. Typically the state of your permanent duty station is the state drivers license you have. Its just easier to buy guns that way. Except for MD. You could have a home of record in a different state, a drivers license in TX and be stationed in MD and be a MD and TX resident. You would have dual residency.

At the Chantilly gun show in VA they are ok with TX residency but many dealers wont even bother selling you any rifle if you tell them you are stationed in MD.

breimer273 · Mar 24, 2015

wilcam47 said:
...just because you are active duty doesnt mean you can get the high cap mags in MD...You had to be SFS and in the performance of your job. We had guys that bought AR's with special squadron engravings but still couldnt keep the higher cap magazines that the rifle came with even as active duty.
Military members have to comply with the states laws on firearms. You can have dual residency...ie your previous state where your drivers license is and MD. Typically the state of your permanent duty station is the state drivers license you have. Its just easier to buy guns that way. Except for MD. You could have a home of record in a different state, a drivers license in TX and be stationed in MD and be a MD and TX resident. You would have dual residency.

At the Chantilly gun show in VA they are ok with TX residency but many dealers wont even bother selling you any rifle if you tell them you are stationed in MD.

You can buy magazines with greater than 10 round on Ft Meade.

Jimbo · Apr 4, 2015

breimer273 said:
Correct HBARs are legal. However, I personally probably would not go down the route of just swapping out the uppers if the rifle was purchased after 10/1/13, unless the lower was purchased as a stripped lower, classified as "other firearm", or as an HBAR to begin with. Could get you in trouble.

Don't take my word for it.

I believe MD would still consider you a resident because you have a MD driver's license, which means you would have to register your firearms. Again, don't take my word for it.

If you still have an address in KY, or even if not as long as it says KY on your LES you should be able to get a KY driver's license. That's the route I would go. I did a similar thing with FL.

IANAL.

breimer, thanks for the info. All but one of my AR's were purchased as stripped lowers. I will definitely look in to it.

Scottb2A · Jul 10, 2019

I’m in the same boat as you. I imagine you are being station on Joint Base Andrews? If so I will be there in the fall. I have all the same questions as you. I’m tired of looking at the mind **** of laws that are in place. Sorry for the lack of better words. I have read that since we are active duty that we are exempt from the HQL. Also I have read on other threads in this forum that if you do not claim MD residency and maintain out of state that you are not required to register...take that for what it’s worth. I have an AR10 which as I read seems legal unless I’m wrong in its current configuration. From what I understand about the AR15 platform is that if it’s chambered in .223/5.56 that it must have a HBAR barrel to circumvent the ban post 2013-2014. But reading into some of these posts, to get around an HBAR you can change the barrel on your rifle to anything other than .223/5.56 and it doesn’t require an HBAR and therefore is legal. I’ve been researching for days now and I’m only just now making any sense of the law. I’ll subscribe here and keep you posted on anything I find. Please feel free to do the same. Please anyone correct me if I’m wrong. Just trying to avoid being arrested for some BS.

Biggfoot44 · Jul 10, 2019

Andrews is within 10 miles of Virginia .

Scottb2A · Jul 10, 2019

Biggfoot44 said:
Andrews is within 10 miles of Virginia .

I will have to check out living accommodations in Virginia then. Would be so much easier on my gun safe.

WildWeasel · Jul 10, 2019

breimer273 said:
You can buy magazines with greater than 10 round on Ft Meade.

Not anymore(?). Unless I walked past a stack of PMAGs somewhere. But when I talked to the salesman there a couple of weeks ago, he was very pointed about their compliance with MD and of course federal law, including mags that are sold with firearms.

OP, I recently moved here as well and I have only found 1 exception for military; we are exempt from the concealed carry permit training. See below. I'll be submitting my application shortly, knowing it's a gamble on just the application fee, as opposed to training cost and fee. That said, if the staties grant me permission to use my 2A rights, I plan to take the training as a refresher and for Maryland specific laws.

https://mdsp.maryland.gov/Organizat...singDivision/Training/WearandCarryPermit.aspx

Otherwise I'll mimic what others have said; pre Oct 2013 ARs are fine, after that just make it an HBAR. You can bring all mags, they just have to remain in your ownership. IANAL

Edit: holy zombie thread...

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