In 2024, Maryland enacted a law that allows the state to hold industry actors accountable for their misconduct. Specifically, the law provides that a firearm industry member,¹ by conduct unlawful in itself or unreasonable under all the circumstances, may not knowingly create, maintain, or contribute to harm to the public through the sale, manufacture, distribution, importation, or marketing of a firearm-related product.² 

The law also requires firearm industry members establish and implement reasonable controls regarding the sale, manufacture, distribution, importation, and use of the industry member’s firearm-related products.³ “Reasonable controls” are policies that are designed:

• To prevent the sale or distribution of a firearm-related product to a straw purchaser, a firearm trafficker, a person prohibited from possessing a firearm under state or federal law, or a person who the industry member has reasonable cause to believe intends to use the firearm-related product to commit a crime or cause harm to themself or someone else; 
• To prevent the loss or theft of a firearm-related product; and 
• To ensure that the industry member complies with all provisions of state and federal law and does not otherwise promote the unlawful sale, manufacture, alteration, importation, marketing possession, or use of a firearm-related product.⁴

The law enables the state’s attorney general, county attorneys, and the Baltimore City Solicitor to bring suit against a firearm industry member for a violation of these requirements. ⁵ 

Existing law prohibiting strict liability for injuries to another that result from the criminal use of a firearm by a third person remains unchanged.⁶ This restriction does not apply if the person conspired with the third person to commit the criminal act in which the firearm was used or willfully aided, abetted, or caused the commission of the criminal act in which the firearm was used. The legislature enacted this section to supersede Kelley v. R.G. Industries, Inc.,⁷ which had imposed strict liability on a manufacturer of “Saturday Night Specials” (otherwise known as Junk Guns) for their criminal misuse.

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1. A firearm industry member is a person engaged in the manufacture, distribution, importation, or marketing of a firearm-related product. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 23 3-2301(C).[↩]
2. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2302(A).[↩]
3. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2302(B).[↩]
4. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2301(F).[↩]
5. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-2303(A).[↩]
6. Md. Code Ann., Pub. Safety § 5-402(b)(2).[↩]
7. 497 A.2d 1143 (Md. 1985).[↩]