What’s happening?
A new Maryland law prohibiting residents from buying, selling, receiving, or transferring ghost guns—homemade guns without serial numbers and sold online in kits—takes effect June 1, David Collins reports for WBAL TV. Last year, Baltimore City seized 52 ghost guns, and police connected them to 69 instances of violence.
How does the new law affect ghost guns?
The first part of the law specifically forbids the sale, receipt, and transfer of guns without a serial number, including holding manufacturers liable for selling unserialized guns. The second component of the law, which starts March 1, 2023, will ban ownership of ghost guns completely. The punishment for violating the new law includes up to five years of jail time and up to a $10,000 fine.
“[Ghost guns] are all over the place and the reason is you don’t need a background check to get one,” said Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. But with the new law, “you can go to a federally-licensed firearms dealer and get them to serialize it. You, of course, in order to do that must have a handgun qualification license. You have to pass Maryland’s background check and you have to be eligible to own a gun,” Frosh said.
Anything else I should know?
Mayor Brandon Scott also plans to release information about a city lawsuit against the largest ghost gun manufacturer in the country.
You can read more here.
