State Gun Laws

Throughout these gun law pages, we will refer to gun laws that make it illegal for someone convicted of a felony to have a gun. A felony is a more serious crime than a misdemeanor.

Under Maryland law, a felony is not specifically defined. Each criminal statute will say if that crime is considered a felony or if it is a lesser offense. Generally, a felony is a crime that is punishable by death or by imprisonment for more than one year. However, you cannot always tell if someone was convicted of a felony only by looking at the amount of time s/he actually served in prison since sentences are often reduced or pled down. If you are unsure if the abuser was convicted of a felony, you might want to talk to the prosecutor who handled the criminal case against the abuser to find out or go to the courthouse and search the conviction records.