Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland Senate Bill SB336 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	sb0336
6	6
7	7	SENATE BILL 336
8	8	E1 5lr1370
9	9	SB 39/24 – JPR
10	10	By: Senators Ready, Bailey, Carozza, Corderman, Folden, Gallion, Gile, Hershey,
11	11	Jennings, Mautz, McKay, Salling, Simonaire, Watson, and West
12	12	Introduced and read first time: January 15, 2025
13	13	Assigned to: Judicial Proceedings
14	14
15	15	A BILL ENTITLED
16	16
17	17	AN ACT concerning 1
18	18
19	19	Gun Theft Felony Act of 2025 2
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of classifying the theft of a firearm as a felony; establishing certain 3
22	22	penalties for theft of a firearm; and generally relating to theft of a firearm. 4
23	23
24	24	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 5
25	25	Article – Criminal Law 6
26	26	Section 7–104 7
27	27	Annotated Code of Maryland 8
28	28	(2021 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 9
29	29
30	30	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 10
31	31	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 11
32	32
33	33	Article – Criminal Law 12
34	34
35	35	7–104. 13
36	36
37	37	(a) A person may not willfully or knowingly obtain or exert unauthorized control 14
38	38	over property, if the person: 15
39	39
40	40	(1) intends to deprive the owner of the property; 16
41	41
42	42	(2) willfully or knowingly uses, conceals, or abandons the property in a 17
43	43	manner that deprives the owner of the property; or 18
44	44
45	45	(3) uses, conceals, or abandons the property knowing the use, concealment, 19
46	46	or abandonment probably will deprive the owner of the property. 20
47	47
48	48	(b) A person may not obtain control over property by willfully or knowingly using 21 2 SENATE BILL 336
49	49
50	50
51	51	deception, if the person: 1
52	52
53	53	(1) intends to deprive the owner of the property; 2
54	54
55	55	(2) willfully or knowingly uses, conceals, or abandons the property in a 3
56	56	manner that deprives the owner of the property; or 4
57	57
58	58	(3) uses, conceals, or abandons the property knowing the use, concealment, 5
59	59	or abandonment probably will deprive the owner of the property. 6
60	60
61	61	(c) (1) A person may not possess stolen personal property knowing that it has 7
62	62	been stolen, or believing that it probably has been stolen, if the person: 8
63	63
64	64	(i) intends to deprive the owner of the property; 9
65	65
66	66	(ii) willfully or knowingly uses, conceals, or abandons the property 10
67	67	in a manner that deprives the owner of the property; or 11
68	68
69	69	(iii) uses, conceals, or abandons the property knowing that the use, 12
70	70	concealment, or abandonment probably will deprive the owner of the property. 13
71	71
72	72	(2) In the case of a person in the business of buying or selling goods, the 14
73	73	knowledge required under this subsection may be inferred if: 15
74	74
75	75	(i) the person possesses or exerts control over property stolen from 16
76	76	more than one person on separate occasions; 17
77	77
78	78	(ii) during the year preceding the criminal possession charged, the 18
79	79	person has acquired stolen property in a separate transaction; or 19
80	80
81	81	(iii) being in the business of buying or selling property of the sort 20
82	82	possessed, the person acquired it for a consideration that the person knew was far below a 21
83	83	reasonable value. 22
84	84
85	85	(3) In a prosecution for theft by possession of stolen property under this 23
86	86	subsection, it is not a defense that: 24
87	87
88	88	(i) the person who stole the property has not been convicted, 25
89	89	apprehended, or identified; 26
90	90
91	91	(ii) the defendant stole or participated in the stealing of the property; 27
92	92
93	93	(iii) the property was provided by law enforcement as part of an 28
94	94	investigation, if the property was described to the defendant as being obtained through the 29
95	95	commission of theft; or 30
96	96
97	97	(iv) the stealing of the property did not occur in the State. 31 SENATE BILL 336 3
98	98
99	99
100	100
101	101	(4) Unless the person who criminally possesses stolen property 1
102	102	participated in the stealing, the person who criminally possesses stolen property and a 2
103	103	person who has stolen the property are not accomplices in theft for the purpose of any rule 3
104	104	of evidence requiring corroboration of the testimony of an accomplice. 4
105	105
106	106	(d) A person may not obtain control over property knowing that the property was 5
107	107	lost, mislaid, or was delivered under a mistake as to the identity of the recipient or nature 6
108	108	or amount of the property, if the person: 7
109	109
110	110	(1) knows or learns the identity of the owner or knows, is aware of, or 8
111	111	learns of a reasonable method of identifying the owner; 9
112	112
113	113	(2) fails to take reasonable measures to restore the property to the owner; 10
114	114	and 11
115	115
116	116	(3) intends to deprive the owner permanently of the use or benefit of the 12
117	117	property when the person obtains the property or at a later time. 13
118	118
119	119	(e) A person may not obtain the services of another that are available only for 14
120	120	compensation: 15
121	121
122	122	(1) by deception; or 16
123	123
124	124	(2) with knowledge that the services are provided without the consent of 17
125	125	the person providing them. 18
126	126
127	127	(f) Under this section, an offender’s intention or knowledge that a promise would 19
128	128	not be performed may not be established by or inferred solely from the fact that the promise 20
129	129	was not performed. 21
130	130
131	131	(g) (1) THIS SUBSECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO THEFT O F A FIREARM. 22
132	132
133	133	(2) A person convicted of theft of property or services with a value of: 23
134	134
135	135	(i) at least $1,500 but less than $25,000 is guilty of a felony and: 24
136	136
137	137	1. is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine 25
138	138	not exceeding $10,000 or both; and 26
139	139
140	140	2. shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the 27
141	141	owner the value of the property or services; 28
142	142
143	143	(ii) at least $25,000 but less than $100,000 is guilty of a felony and: 29
144	144
145	145	1. is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine 30
146	146	not exceeding $15,000 or both; and 31 4 SENATE BILL 336
147	147
148	148
149	149
150	150	2. shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the 1
151	151	owner the value of the property or services; or 2
152	152
153	153	(iii) $100,000 or more is guilty of a felony and: 3
154	154
155	155	1. is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 20 years or a fine 4
156	156	not exceeding $25,000 or both; and 5
157	157
158	158	2. shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the 6
159	159	owner the value of the property or services. 7
160	160
161	161	[(2)] (3) Except as provided in paragraph [(3)] (4) of this subsection, a 8
162	162	person convicted of theft of property or services with a value of at least $100 but less than 9
163	163	$1,500, is guilty of a misdemeanor and: 10
164	164
165	165	(i) is subject to: 11
166	166
167	167	1. for a first conviction, imprisonment not exceeding 6 12
168	168	months or a fine not exceeding $500 or both; and 13
169	169
170	170	2. for a second or subsequent conviction, imprisonment not 14
171	171	exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $500 or both; and 15
172	172
173	173	(ii) shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the owner 16
174	174	the value of the property or services. 17
175	175
176	176	[(3)] (4) A person convicted of theft of property or services with a value of 18
177	177	less than $100 is guilty of a misdemeanor and: 19
178	178
179	179	(i) is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 90 days or a fine not 20
180	180	exceeding $500 or both; and 21
181	181
182	182	(ii) shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the owner 22
183	183	the value of the property or services. 23
184	184
185	185	[(4)] (5) Subject to paragraph [(5)] (6) of this subsection, a person who 24
186	186	has four or more prior convictions under this subtitle and who is convicted of theft of 25
187	187	property or services with a value of less than $1,500 under paragraph [(2)] (3) of this 26
188	188	subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and: 27
189	189
190	190	(i) is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not 28
191	191	exceeding $5,000 or both; and 29
192	192
193	193	(ii) shall restore the property taken to the owner or pay the owner 30
194	194	the value of the property or services. 31
195	195	SENATE BILL 336 5
196	196
197	197
198	198	[(5)] (6) The court may not impose the penalties under paragraph [(4)] 1
199	199	(5) of this subsection unless the State’s Attorney serves notice on the defendant or the 2
200	200	defendant’s counsel before the acceptance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or at least 3
201	201	15 days before trial that: 4
202	202
203	203	(i) the State will seek the penalties under paragraph [(4)] (5) of this 5
204	204	subsection; and 6
205	205
206	206	(ii) lists the alleged prior convictions. 7
207	207
208	208	(H) (1) A PERSON CONVICTED OF THEFT OF A FIREARM , INCLUDING AN 8
209	209	ANTIQUE FIREARM OR A REPLICA OF AN ANTIQU E FIREARM, IS GUILTY OF A FELON Y 9
210	210	AND IS SUBJECT TO: 10
211	211
212	212	(I) FOR A FIRST CONVICTI ON, IMPRISONMENT NOT EXC EEDING 11
213	213	5 YEARS OR A FINE NOT EXCEEDING $1,000 OR BOTH; AND 12
214	214
215	215	(II) FOR A SECOND OR SUBS EQUENT CONVICTION , 13
216	216	IMPRISONMENT NOT EXC EEDING 10 YEARS OR A FINE NOT EXCEEDING $2,500 OR 14
217	217	BOTH. 15
218	218
219	219	(2) A SENTENCE IMPOSED UND ER PARAGRAPH (1) OF THIS 16
220	220	SUBSECTION SHALL BE SEPARATE FROM AND CO NSECUTIVE TO A SENTE NCE FOR 17
221	221	ANY OTHER OFFENSE . 18
222	222
223	223	[(h)] (I) (1) If a person is convicted of a violation under this section for failure 19
224	224	to pay for motor fuel after the motor fuel was dispensed into a vehicle, the court shall: 20
225	225
226	226	(i) notify the person that the person’s driver’s license may be 21
227	227	suspended under § 16–206.1 of the Transportation Article; and 22
228	228
229	229	(ii) notify the Motor Vehicle Administration of the violation. 23
230	230
231	231	(2) The Chief Judge of the District Court and the Administrative Office of 24
232	232	the Courts, in conjunction with the Motor Vehicle Administration, shall establish uniform 25
233	233	procedures for reporting a violation under this subsection. 26
234	234
235	235	[(i)] (J) An action or prosecution for a violation of subsection [(g)(2) or (3)] 27
236	236	(G)(3) OR (4) of this section shall be commenced within 2 years after the commission of 28
237	237	the crime. 29
238	238
239	239	[(j)] (K) A person who violates this section by use of an interactive computer 30
240	240	service may be prosecuted, indicted, tried, and convicted in any county in which the victim 31
241	241	resides or the electronic communication originated or terminated. 32
242	242	6 SENATE BILL 336
243	243
244	244
245	245	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 1
246	246	October 1, 2025. 2
247	247