The Liberty Daily 
(The Daily Caller)—Hours after Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed legislation Tuesday that could ban the sale of Glock pistols, pro-Second Amendment organizations announced they would file suit to block the law.
Moore became the second governor to enact a ban on so-called “machine gun convertible pistols” Tuesday, following Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed a similar ban in October 2025, while a similar bill is under consideration in Connecticut. The National Rifle Association announced its intentions to sue Tuesday.
“With a single stroke of his pen, Governor Wes Moore has banned one of the most popular handguns in America,” NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford said in a release. “Instead of going after criminals and enforcing existing laws, he has chosen to disarm law-abiding Marylanders and strip them of their constitutional rights. The NRA is filing an immediate legal challenge to this unconstitutional assault on the Second Amendment and will exhaust every option available to ensure this law is struck down.”
Moore and Democratic Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation about the lawsuit. The Second Amendment Foundation also announced it would be joining the NRA’s suit alongside the Firearms Policy Coalition.
“These pistols are among the most popular on the market, chosen in overwhelming numbers by peaceable citizens for lawful purposes like self-defense,” SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut said in a Tuesday release. “Maryland has now attempted to ban these firearms because a subset of criminals illegally modifies them, using conversion parts that are themselves illegal to possess, and then commit crimes with the modified handguns.”
“Not only is this law as foolish as banning hops and barley to prevent drunk driving, but these commonly owned arms are clearly protected by the Second Amendment, the ratification of which takes certain policy choices – including this one – off the table,” Kraut continued.
Under current federal law, it is illegal to possess or manufacture a fully-automatic firearm that is not registered or authorized under the provisions of the National Firearms Act.
Glock pistols are among the most popular in the United States, regularly appearing in lists of the most-sold firearms compiled by outlets like Guns and Guns and Ammo magazine. The company’s Glock 19X sold over 100,000 copies in less than six months after the pistol’s release, according to a 2018 press release by the company.
“Glock and Glock-style pistols are not relevantly different from any ordinary semiautomatic handgun. That is true even though they may be illegally modified,” the complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland says. “What is more, these pistols are in common use; indeed, they are among the most popular firearms in the nation. Yet if SB 334 is enforced, ordinary Marylanders will have no way to lawfully acquire these common, constitutionally protected arms.”
In addition to being popular among law-abiding citizens, Glock pistols are also used by numerous law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which has issued versions of the handgun to its agents since 1997. Former Vice President Kamala Harris boasted on multiple occasions about owning a Glock pistol she acquired for personal protection.
