An official website of the State of Maryland.

Maryland.gov Translate

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Maryland Department of State Police

At-a-glance

  • You must register a machine gun within 24 hours after acquiring it.

  • FFL’s, Manufacturers, and Importers are subject to machine gun registration requirements.

  • Failure to register your machine gun is a violation of law and could result in prison time.

If you possess a machine gun in Maryland, you’ll need to register it with the State Police within 24 hours after acquiring it and renew that registration each May to remain in compliance with state law. 

Failure to register a machine gun as required by § 4-403 of the Criminal Law Article leads to the presumption that it is intended for offensive or aggressive use. Violators of this section are guilty of a misdemeanor and face up to 10 years of imprisonment upon conviction.

Process changes/updates

There have been no changes to the registration process in the last 12 months.​

What is a Machine Gun?

A machine gun as defined in Criminal Law §4-401(c) as a loaded or unloaded weapon that is capable of automatically discharging more than one shot or bullet from a magazine by a single function of the firing device.

Initial registration 

You must register your machine gun within 24 hours of acquiring  it. Machine gun registration records are not open to public inspection. 

  1. Create or log into your existing Licensing Portal account.
  2. Choose “Start MG” registration.
  3. Complete the registration form.
  4. Pay the registration fee and submit the registration.
  5. You will receive a receipt and registration submission email from the Licensing Division. No further action is required on your part unless you are contacted by a member of the Licensing Division with further instructions. 

Annual machine gun renewal

You must renew your Machine Gun Registration annually. You will receive email reminders for annual renewal. Failure to renew your registration is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. 

  1. Log into your existing Licensing Portal account.
  2. Choose “Start MG” registration.
  3. Verify your demographic information.
  4. Verify all the information for previously registered machine guns.
  5. Pay the registration fee and submit the renewal.
  6. You will receive a receipt and registration submission email from the Licensing Division. No further action is required on your part unless you are contacted by a member of the Licensing Division with further instructions. 

Registration fees

Acceptable methods of payment include Visa or MasterCard. Application​ fees are non-refundable.

All application fees are collected electronically in the Licensing Portal.

Initial Registration: $10.00

Annual Registration: $10.00

Modification: N/A

Application timeline

Applicant: The initial registration will take 10-20 minutes to complete. Please add 2-4 minutes for each additional machine gun being registered. The annual registration will take approximately 5-15 minutes to complete and includes the verification of the applicant's demographic information and verification of previously registered machine guns.

Licensing Division processing time: Once the machine gun registration has been submitted, the applicant will receive a receipt and registration submission email​ from the Licensing Division. No further action is required of the applicant unless they are contacted by the Licensing Division.

Statutes

Criminal Law §4-401 through §​4-407 is collectively identified as the Uniform Machine Gun Act. The current version of any statute can be found at  LexisNexis or the Maryland General Assembly's website​.

Advisories

Visit the archive section to download any prior documents.

Questions?