The Maryland Public Safety Code is home to many of the laws and regulations that govern law enforcement agencies and other emergency services such as fire and rescue. There are also provisions for emergency management, explosives and fireworks, and gas pipeline safety. It is by no means a traditional place to list criminal laws, and yet the majority of serious gun cases we defend are public safety violations. Title 5 of the Maryland Public Safety is home to most of the firearm laws in the state, and also where the most serious gun crimes are listed. This title details the notoriously complex state gun laws that deal with purchase, possession, transportation and sale of all guns in Maryland, and then of course provides the penalties if these laws are broken. Both dealers and those in possession of a firearm may find themselves on the wrong end of a public safety charge, and thus it is important to understand these laws to prevent severe consequences.
Consistently rising gun violence in the Baltimore Washington Metro area has led Annapolis lawmakers to strengthen the state firearms laws just about every year. There is also constant pressure from the federal government for Baltimore City and the surrounding counties to get as many illegal guns off the street as possible and lock up those who illegally possess them. The public safety code is one of the most powerful tools that law enforcement and prosecutors use to hold defendants in jail without bail and also force plea agreements by using mandatory prison sentences.
While the public safety code has more than one hundred different laws, without a doubt the most common in criminal cases is section 5-133. This section deals with restrictions on who may possess a firearm in Maryland. If a person is prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a criminal conviction, he or she will likely be charged with a criminal law violation and a public safety code violation. Recently lawmakers increased the penalty for unlawful possession of a firearm in the criminal law section from 3 years to 5 years, which is more in line with the public safety code. However, the gun laws in the criminal law section of the Maryland statutes do not provide mandatory prison sentences. Some criminal laws provide 30 or 60-day mandatory jail sentences, but these are rarely imposed or even mentioned in a case. On the other hand, the mandatory penalties in the Public Safety code are the first thing that any competent defense lawyer must address. Benjamin Herbst is an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer who specializes in Public Safety code violations. He is available 7 days a week to discuss your case at 41-207-2598. Benjamin defends all gun charges in state and federal court and also takes on less common types of public safety violations such as unlawful sale of fireworks and sparklers and violations of laws governing explosives. In addition, Benjamin defends contractors and laborers charged with violations of the building safety code and other occupational and business code crimes.