Three major firearms advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit against top Maryland officials on Tuesday, aiming to overturn a newly enacted law that would ban the sale, purchase, or transfer of Glock and “Glock-style” handguns.
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA), the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) jointly filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The lawsuit names Maryland Governor Westley Moore, Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, and Acting State Police Superintendent Michael A. Jackson as defendants in their official capacities.
The legal challenge targets Maryland Senate Bill 334 (SB 334), which Governor Moore signed into law on May 26, 2026. Set to take effect on January 1, 2027, the statute prohibits the manufacture, sale, purchase, or transfer of what it defines as a “machine gun convertible pistol.”
Under the text of the law, this category applies to any semiautomatic pistol featuring a “cruciform trigger bar” that can be modified to fire automatically using a “pistol converter” in place of the slide’s backplate, using common household tools. The complaint states that the cruciform trigger bar is an integral design feature present in all factory stock Glock models since 1982 to prevent accidental discharges, as well as popular standard models from other manufacturers like the Palmetto State Armory Dagger, Ruger RXM, and Shadow Systems handguns.
According to the plaintiffs, the state’s restriction functions as an outright ban on a highly popular category of handguns, directly conflicting with established constitutional protections.
“The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects law-abiding citizens’ right to possess—and, as a necessary incident to that right, to acquire—firearms that are in common use for lawful purposes,” the plaintiffs state in the complaint.
The gun rights organizations emphasize that Glock-style pistols are among the most widely owned firearms in the country, estimating that Glock held nearly 65% of the U.S. handgun market as of 2020. The lawsuit notes that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recognizes Glocks as “popular for civilian use,” and details that between 40% and 65% of domestic law enforcement agencies, including the Baltimore Police Department, issue Glock pistols to officers.
The state’s legislative justification for the bill appears to stem from concerns that semiautomatic Glock pistols can be illegally altered with switch-style converter devices to operate as fully automatic weapons. However, the plaintiffs contend that those specific modifications are already strictly illegal under existing state and federal frameworks, making a sweeping ban on the underlying, unmodified handguns unconstitutional.
“Pistol converters are banned under both federal and Maryland law; it is illegal to modify a Glock or Glock-style pistol using a pistol converter. Those bans are not at issue in this case,” the filing notes. “This case is about whether Maryland may ban Glock and Glock-style handguns consistent with the United States Constitution merely because someone can convert those firearms into something that they are not.”
The lawsuit references the 2008 Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller and the 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, arguing that handguns in common use cannot be prohibited by individual states. Because federal law restricts Maryland residents from buying handguns out-of-state and bringing them home, the groups argue SB 334 completely cuts off ordinary citizens from lawfully obtaining these firearms.
A first-time offense under the new Maryland law carries a penalty of up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both. The plaintiffs are asking the federal court to declare the law unconstitutional and permanently block state officials and the Maryland State Police from enforcing the restrictions or implementing related regulations.
RELATED: Maryland Faces Immediate Legal Fight After Governor Signs Handgun Ban Into Law
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