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Sunday, December 11, 2016

Regulated Firearm Purchase Application Process Goes On-Line January 1st

(PIKESVILLE, MD) – As part of Maryland State Police efforts to improve customer service, the process of applying to purchase a regulated firearm is moving from paper forms filled out by hand, to an on-line automated system expected to increase efficiency and improve the process for both customers and firearms dealers.

Beginning January 1, 2017, persons applying to purchase a regulated firearm in Maryland will conduct the entire process on-line via the Maryland State Police Licensing Portal. This includes completing the application forms and paying the required application fee. Individuals will be able to apply on-line using a computer, tablet, or mobile phone, regardless of the operating system. All current web browsers are also supported by the new system.

Currently, a person wishing to purchase a regulated firearm must complete the required Form 77R and the related paperwork by hand. This paperwork is submitted to a firearms dealer or State Police barrack and then forwarded to the Maryland State Police Licensing Division, where background checks are conducted to ensure the applicant is not prohibited from purchasing a regulated firearm.

Little has changed in the questions and forms being completed as part of the purchase application process. Applicants will continue to provide the same information currently required on the Form 77R.


There will be two differences in the new process. First, every applicant will need an email account. This will enable the applicant to receive follow-up and reminder correspondence from the State Police Licensing Division. Second, submission of the electronic application requires the use of a credit or debit card. All transactions with the Licensing Division regarding regulated firearm purchases will be done by credit or debit card only, beginning January 1, 2017. The $10 application fee will remain the same.

When the on-line application is completed by a firearm dealer or barrack, it will be submitted electronically to the State Police Licensing Division, rather than being mailed or faxed as has been done in the past. The electronic submission of the completed form by the dealer or barrack will begin the seven-day waiting period required by law, during which the required background checks are conducted to determine if the applicant is prohibited from purchasing a regulated firearm.

Maryland State Police Licensing Division staff solicited input, advice and feedback from firearms dealers regarding the design of the new Licensing Portal application process. It is believed this may be the first time Maryland firearms dealers have been included in a focus group that had direct input on the design and work flow of a system related to the state’s firearms purchasing process. The project team worked hard to emphasize to firearms dealers that this new process was intended to be developed with their involvement.

In addition to designing, documenting and testing the on-line system, Maryland State Police Licensing Division personnel have been busy conducting training in the new process. Seminars for firearm dealers have been conducted throughout the state, with more than 300 dealers attending. Training has been provided to State Police barrack duty officers who most often deal with secondary sales of regulated firearms that must also go through the background check process and to allied law enforcement agency personnel who perform certain tasks related to regulated firearm transfers.

Licensing Division personnel developed posters and information cards alerting consumers to the pending automation. Those publicity items were delivered in-person to each dealer in the state in an effort to have face-to-face interaction with dealers about the new process and answer any questions they had.

The Licensing Division project team has also developed a computer lab where, beginning in mid-December, firearms dealers will be able to have hands-on experience with the new automation system and receive more personal training. Time in the computer lab must be scheduled in advance with the Licensing Division.

The new regulated firearm purchase procedure has nothing to do with the requirement in Maryland to have a handgun qualification license (HQL) or approved HQL exemption before beginning the process to purchase a regulated firearm. The handgun qualification license application process has been an on-line procedure since it became law in Maryland in the fall of 2013.

The goal of the automated 77R application process is to increase the ease and efficiency of purchasing a regulated firearm in Maryland. The on-line completion of forms will eliminate legibility issues and decrease data processing errors. The Maryland State Police Licensing Division staff is continuing their efforts to promptly approve those eligible to purchase regulated firearms, while ensuring those prohibited by law are not approved to complete the purchase process.

Further information is available by clicking on ‘Licensing Division,’ on the Maryland State Police website at mdsp.maryland.gov.

16 comments:

  1. So the process is now electronic but still requires a trip to a firearms dealer or barrack to submit the information? Am I reading that correctly? Where's the benefit to that for the applicant?

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  2. There is no benefit to the applicant, only to the processor.

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  3. The whole process is garbage to begin with. Its the same background check but now YOU have to pay another ridiculous fee to have "permission" to buy a regulated firearm which before 2013 was perfectly fine to do with one background check. O'Malley and liberals to blame for being so scared of those scary black rifles! BTW, where is Hogan's easier to get a carry permits???

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  4. To improve customer service? So now it's "customer service" to let me have a constitutional right? Why is the State even involved at all?

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  5. 11:43 AM are you dumb or stupid? Can you not read English? It says and I quote "Currently, a person wishing to purchase a regulated firearm must complete the required Form 77R and the related paperwork by hand. This paperwork is submitted to a firearms dealer or State Police barrack and then forwarded to the Maryland State Police Licensing Division" Can you read that? IT SAYS CURRENTLY, meaning right now, UNTIL January 1st, 2017!!!! IT is vague wither this will fix that or not, but it says Currently you have to do what they listed, the bill is to fix that, perhaps if it is all online, maybe use common sense and think, I wouldn't have to go this extra step if it is all online... It also said PAPER, and this bill removes PAPER and puts in ONLINE!!!

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  6. 8:28 That is why many people should not have children or guns.

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  7. i have a simpler solution
    require all disqualifying items submitted ti nics
    allow dealer to run nics check
    take home same day, no wait

    simple and easy

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  8. You'll need a fire arm in Salisbury.

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  9. I love the bottom of form 77R where you sign, it says: "I agree to voluntary registration" Don't sign it and see if you take your gun home.

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  10. It's nothing to do with safety or self protection. It's about the fees.

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  11. No it's about big brother nailing a mail fraud/ wire law on you and gathering info

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  12. My application to purchase a handgun during the Glendening administration was returned with the words "not disaproved," rather than the word "approved." I guess that was so the State Police would not have any liability for "approving" citizens to own a handgun. They didn't approve anyone back then. By default, if the answer to your application was that you weren't disapproved, then you were approved. Their backwards use of words was not lost on me.

    Back then, the law said that the State Police had either 10 days, or two weeks to approve or disaprove a handgun purchase application. I called Daves Sport shop and asked them about my application after I had not heard anything back after the prescribed period of time and was told that the State Police were "backed up" with applications after Glendening proposed the ballistic fingerprinting law (recently repealed). I reminded Dave's of the law and the time to respond and asked them to demand my application from the S.P. I had it by the end of the week!

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  13. I thought fingerprints are now required for the purchase of a handun in MD. How does one do that online?

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  14. fingerprints are for your hql, which you need before you can apply to buy

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  15. LOL.

    You people have been beat, slapped, and ordered into the fetal position by the Gestapo. And you happily folded up and said "Yaasuh, massa, I's gone do whateva you say, boss!"
    F "registration". F your "requirements". F your "paperwork".
    ESPECIALLY, and with gusto, F your "fees".
    I ain't PAYING any cop (or anyone else, really) to say if it's okay with THEM if I carry a weapon and exercise my RIGHTS.
    I'm not ASKING anyone to APPROVE of my rights, or to "sign off" on my ability to exercise them.
    The only thing I'll ask for is a bigger bag when I'm buying more more armor piercing rounds. The spectacle of those rounds hitting a target is heart warming....
    When in the hell did we start allowing OTHER MEN to dole out our RIGHTS as they see fit? They have went from OBEYING the Constitution to writing their own little versions of it.
    I'm STILL for hanging every one of these boot clicking, SS bolt polishing, wanna-be Nazi superstars.
    On TV.
    Keep cheering.

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  16. Looking forward to Trump's countrywide conceal and carry permit. It's about time we stopped trying to crush the Second Amendment and started using to our benefit instead of just the criminals. 😐

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