The Montgomery County Council is expected to vote Tuesday, July 21, on Expedited Bill 23-26, legislation that would update the County’s firearms laws to comply with a Maryland Supreme Court ruling while maintaining restrictions on ghost guns and firearms near places of public assembly.
The bill would define firearm-related terms, regulate the sale or transfer of ghost guns involving minors, revise exceptions to restrictions on carrying firearms in or near places of public assembly, and update regulations governing gun shops. The legislation follows the Maryland Supreme Court’s decision in the Engage Armament case, which upheld portions of the County’s previous firearms laws but found other provisions exceeded the County’s legal authority or were preempted by state law.
The Council’s Public Safety Committee unanimously recommended approval of the bill with amendments after a June 9 public hearing. Those amendments would revise exemptions for firearms kept inside vehicles to more closely match state law and preserve a grandfather clause allowing certain gun shops operating before Jan. 1, 1997, to remain exempt from the places of public assembly restrictions.
Councilmember Dawn Luedtke is the lead sponsor of the legislation. Councilmember Kristin Mink Stewart, Council President Natali Fani-González, Councilmember Andrew Friedson, Council Vice President Marilyn Balcombe, and Councilmembers Sidney Katz, Evan Glass, and Laurie-Anne Sayles Evans are listed as cosponsors. The Council is expected to take its final vote during Tuesday’s meeting.
