Brief in support of a motion for preliminary injunction asks federal court to block Maryland from banning some of America’s most popular handguns
BALTIMORE, Md. (September 22, 2026) — Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced today that it filed its reply brief in support of a preliminary injunction in Bathras v. Moore, urging the United States District Court for the District of Maryland to block the State’s new ban on Glock and Glock-style handguns before it takes effect. Individuals who want to join the FPC Grassroots Army and help support important lawsuits like this one can sign up in under three minutes at JoinFPC.org.
Maryland’s new law prohibits the manufacture, sale, purchase, receipt, or transfer of so-called “machine gun convertible pistols” beginning January 1, 2027. The State acknowledges that the law targets ordinary semiautomatic handguns because criminals can illegally modify them using illegal conversion devices. FPC’s reply argues that this turns the Second Amendment on its head: the government cannot ban common, constitutionally protected arms because someone could later criminally alter or misuse them.
“Maryland is trying to impose a tyrannical ban on some of the most popular handguns in America, full stop. Glocks are constitutionally protected arms and Maryland can show no historical tradition that justifies banning them. We will Fight Forward until this immoral scheme is eliminated,” said FPC President Brandon Combs.
The reply explains that Glock-style handguns are indisputably common arms used for lawful purposes, and that Maryland does not identify any historical tradition of banning an otherwise lawful firearm merely because criminals could illegally convert, misuse, or abuse it. The State’s own evidence indicates that its law could eliminate roughly one-quarter of the pistol market.
FPC also argues that Maryland’s historical analogues—including laws addressing riots, gunpowder storage, Bowie knives, and twentieth-century weapons restrictions—do not justify its modern ban. Those laws regulated different conduct, for different reasons, and did not establish a tradition of banning common firearms possessed by peaceable people.
The reply further relies on the Supreme Court’s recent Wolford decision, as well as FPC victories including Reese v. ATF, Rigby v. Jennings, and last week’s Fifth Circuit decision in Elite Precision Customs v. ATF, to argue that Maryland cannot evade the Second Amendment by recasting a firearm ban as a regulation of commercial sales.
FPC is joined in the case by individual members, Maryland firearms retailer Atlantic Guns, the National Rifle Association, and the Second Amendment Foundation.
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About Firearms Policy Coalition
Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is a nonprofit membership organization that exists to create a world of maximal individual liberty and eliminate unconstitutional gun control laws. FPC works—and wins—for the People through high-impact strategic litigation, groundbreaking research, legislative and regulatory advocacy, grassroots activism, education, and public engagement. FPC’s legal division, FPC Law, is the nation’s leading initiative dedicated to restoring the right to keep and bear arms across the United States. To learn more about how FPC is working—and winning—for the People, sign up for FPC news alerts at firearmspolicy.org and follow FPC on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
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