Politics & Government

220 Guns Reportedly Sold in Maryland to People Barred from Owning Them

One gun was said to be sold to a man later accused of using it in a carjacking.

Maryland authorities were swamped by thousands of gun purchases and the accompanying background checks last year prior to the adoption of a new gun law, resulting in dealers releasing more than 50,000 guns to customers before they could be cleared, reports The Baltimore Sun.

As a result, 220 guns were sold to 213 people barred by law from owning them. State law allows dealers to distribute guns to customers after waiting seven days, regardless of whether the background check has been completed, the newspaper says.

One gun was sold to a man later accused of using it in a carjacking in Prince George's County, the Sun says. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

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Maryland State Police are working through a backlog of more than 30,000 gun owner applications, the newspaper reports.

Sen. Brian E. Frosh, who helped win passage of the state’s gun control legislation, told the Sun the backlog stemmed from "panic buying," which has subsided.

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Read the full report on The Baltimore Sun website.


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