CRIMINAL LAW TITLE 4. WEAPON CRIMES SUBTITLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS (§ 4-102)

Annotated Code of Maryland

*** Statutes current through 2014 legislation ***

CRIMINAL LAW
TITLE 4. WEAPON CRIMES
SUBTITLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

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Md. CRIMINAL LAW Code Ann. § 4-102 (2014)

§ 4-102. Deadly weapons on school property

(a) Exceptions. — This section does not apply to:
(1) a law enforcement officer in the regular course of the officer’s duty;
(2) an off-duty law enforcement officer who is a parent, guardian, or visitor of a student attending a school located on the public school property, provided that:
(i) the officer is displaying the officer’s badge or credential; and
(ii) the weapon carried or possessed by the officer is concealed;
(3) a person hired by a county board of education specifically for the purpose of guarding public school prop-erty;
(4) a person engaged in organized shooting activity for educational purposes; or
(5) a person who, with a written invitation from the school principal, displays or engages in a historical demon-stration using a weapon or a replica of a weapon for educational purposes.
(b) Prohibited. — A person may not carry or possess a firearm, knife, or deadly weapon of any kind on public school property.
(c) Penalty. —
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a person who violates this section is guilty of a mis-demeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding $ 1,000 or both.
(2) A person who is convicted of carrying or possessing a handgun in violation of this section shall be sentenced under Subtitle 2 of this title.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 27, § 36A; 2002, ch. 26, § 2; ch. 213, § 6; 2013, ch. 427.

NOTES: SPECIAL REVISOR’S NOTE.
This Special Revisor’s note comprises information related to the revision by Acts 2002, ch. 26 and other chapters amending this section from the 2002 Legislative Session.
As enacted by Ch. 26, Acts of 2002, this section was new language derived without substantive change from for-mer Art. 27, § 36A. However, Ch. 213, Acts of 2002, added “or both” following “$1,000” in subsection (c)(1) of this section.
In subsection (a)(2) of this section, the former reference to “Baltimore City” was deleted by Ch. 26 as included in the defined term “county” and for consistency with ED § 1-101, which defines “county board” to include the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners.
In subsection (b) of this section, the former limitation “unless otherwise excepted in this section” was deleted by Ch. 26 in light of the express language in subsection (a) of this section providing exceptions to this section.
Also in subsection (b) of this section, the reference to a “firearm” was substituted by Ch. 26 for the former refer-ences to a “rifle” and a “gun” for brevity. It was clear that the reference to a “deadly weapon of any kind” included all firearms.
Also in subsection (b) of this section, the former phrase “in this State” was deleted by Ch. 26 as implicit because the State has jurisdiction to prohibit activities only in this State.
In subsection (c)(1) of this section, the former reference to being sentenced “to the Maryland Department of Cor-rection” was deleted by Ch. 26 for consistency within this article. Currently, inmates are sentenced to the custody of a unit such as the Division of Correction and then are placed in a particular facility. See CS § 9-103.
In subsection (c)(2) of this section, the phrase “is convicted of carrying or possessing” a handgun was substituted by Ch. 26 for the former phrase “shall be found to carry” a handgun for clarity.
The Criminal Law Article Review Committee noted, for the consideration of the General Assembly, that in subsec-tion (c)(1) of this section, the penalty for anyone possessing a weapon on school property was either imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding $1,000 but not both. Although this was the same as the general penalty for carrying a concealed weapon under § 4-101(d)(1) of this subtitle as enacted by Ch. 26, the penalty for a minor carrying pepper mace under § 4-101(d)(2) of this subtitle as enacted by Ch. 26 was imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding $1,000 or both. The General Assembly was asked to consider addressing the disparities among these sentences. Chapter 213 addressed this concern.

DEFINED TERMS:

“County” § 1-101
“Person” § 1-101

EFFECT OF AMENDMENTS. –Chapter 213, Acts 2002, effective Oct. 1, 2002, added “or both” at the end of (c)(1).
Chapter 427, Acts 2013, effective October 1, 2013, added (a)(2) and redesignated accordingly.

BILL REVIEW LETTER. –Chapter 427, Acts 2013, (Senate Bill 281) was approved for constitutionality and legal suf-ficiency. The provisions banning assault weapons and high capacity detachable magazines, armor piercing bullets sat-isfy the appropriate level of scrutiny and are constitutional as there is a substantial relationship between the banning of these weapons and the State’s objective of controlling crime and protecting law enforcement officers. The licensing requirements and license fees for handguns are presumptively constitutional; specifically, the fees are constitutional administrative fees, not a revenue tax intended to raise money or inhibit the exercise of a constitutional right. The pro-visions that disqualify firearm possession due to mental health issues are likely to be found NIAA compliant. Other provisions relating to wear and carry permits, disqualifying crimes, lost and stolen guns and hunting would generally be found to be constitutional. (Letter of the Attorney General dated April 30, 2013.)

NO EXCEPTION FOR EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATIONS. –The prior version of this section applies to the display of antique firearms in a course of historical lectures in the schools and to any rifle or gun, antique or otherwise, that has not been altered to render it permanently incapable of firing; such prior version contains no exception for educational presentations. 80 Op. Att’y Gen. 147 (August 1, 1995).

DEADLY WEAPON. –In order to convict a person of carrying or possessing any rifle, gun, or knife on school property under prior version of this section, the State must show that the instrument possessed can, under the circumstances of the case, reasonably be considered a deadly weapon. In re Melanie H., 120 Md. App. 158, 706 A.2d 621 (1998).

BUTTER KNIFE. –Possession at school of a butter knife, described as an all-metal flatware knife with a blunt edge and a rounded end, was not proscribed by prior version of this section. In re Melanie H., 120 Md. App. 158, 706 A.2d 621 (1998).

ALTERATIONS RENDERING GUN PERMANENTLY INOPERABLE. –If an antique gun were permanently inopera-ble, prior version of this section would likely be held by the courts to be inapplicable to that antique. 80 Op. Att’y Gen. 147 (August 1, 1995).
Alterations to a gun that would make it inoperable must be permanent; a temporary change in condition, like un-loading the weapon, would not have the same effect. 80 Op. Att’y Gen. 147 (August 1, 1995).

CITED IN Clark v. State, — Md. App. –, — A.3d –, 2014 Md. App. LEXIS 74 (July 31, 2014).

USER NOTE: For more generally applicable notes, see notes under the first section of this part, subtitle, title, division or article.