Maryland court limits police stops based solely on gun suspicion

Baltimore police can no longer justify a stop just because an officer suspects someone is carrying a handgun. In Hicks v. State of Maryland, the Appellate Court of Maryland said the Constitution does not allow a seizure based only on gun suspicion, a shift that will matter on Baltimore streets where officers and armed pedestrians often cross paths.

Judge Mary Ellen Barbera Graeff wrote that after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, which recognized an individual right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home, mere possession of a concealed firearm is not, by itself, evidence of criminal activity. The court said the “mere possibility” that a person with a gun might not have a valid license is not enough for reasonable suspicion. Police must have facts suggesting the gun is being possessed illegally or that the person is otherwise involved in criminal conduct.

The ruling in Hicks v. State of Maryland, No. 634, September Term, 2024, marks a sharp break from decades of Maryland appellate precedent that had allowed stops based on reasonable suspicion that someone possessed a gun. The court said Maryland’s prior approach no longer fits the legal landscape after Bruen and the constitutional protection for carrying a handgun outside the home.

The decision still leaves room for police protection during a lawful stop. If officers have already made a valid stop and have reasonable suspicion that the person is armed, they may frisk the suspect for officer safety, but only within Terry limits. In Hicks, the court said officers went too far when they reached into the suspect’s bag and pockets, exceeding what a protective frisk allows.

For Baltimore residents, the practical effect is clear: carrying a gun is not enough, by itself, to trigger a stop. Police will need more than a hunch, and gun carriers who are stopped lawfully still retain limits on how far officers can search. Public defenders called the change an important protection, and the ruling is likely to hit hardest in communities of color, where over-policing has long fueled tension over street encounters.

The opinion was posted as a slip opinion on the Maryland Courts site, where reported decisions can later be corrected. But the legal signal is already set: in Maryland, suspicion of gun possession alone is no longer enough to stop someone.