Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Gun Violence Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Maryland hearing on proposed firearm excise tax draws broad testimony for violence-prevention funding
Summary
Delegate Bernice Mireku-North asked the House Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 13 to create a dedicated revenue stream for gun-violence prevention and victim services by imposing an 11% excise tax on firearm sales, a proposal that supporters say would fund hospitals and community programs and opponents say would penalize lawful owners and small businesses.
Delegate Bernice Mireku-North, a sponsor of House Bill 387, urged the Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 13 to create a dedicated funding stream for gun-violence prevention and survivor services by imposing an excise tax on firearm sales and directing the revenue to hospital readiness, community intervention and victim supports.
Mireku-North said the bill would create an 11% excise tax on firearms sold in Maryland and on larger out-of-state sellers who meet thresholds for sales to Maryland residents. “This bill provides sustained funding for evidence-based prevention and intervention, addressing trauma and the root causes of gun violence,” Mireku-North said.
The bill’s sponsor and a coalition of public-health and victim-advocacy witnesses told the committee the state’s hospital systems and community violence-intervention programs face funding gaps as federal sources run down. Dr. Joseph Sacra, a trauma surgeon from Johns Hopkins Hospital, said trauma centers need predictable funding for 24/7 readiness and for hospital-based violence-intervention programs. “Gun violence is now the leading cause of death among children and adolescents in Maryland,” Sacra said, citing hospital caseloads and long recovery times for gunshot survivors.
Supporters described how community-based violence-intervention (CVI) programs and hospital-response teams use sustained grants to reduce retaliation and reinjury. The governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy (GOCAP) said its Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) and Survivors of Homicide (SOHG) programs were oversubscribed in fiscal 2025; VIP received $8.7 million in requests with only $4 million available.
Opponents, including shooting-sports businesses, trade groups and gun-rights advocates, argued the tax would chiefly burden lawful owners, small businesses and rural dealers and encourage cross-border purchases or online buys that dodge the tax. Industry witnesses warned the combined effect of federal excise taxes (Pittman–Robertson), state sales tax and the proposed excise could make many purchases significantly more expensive and drive sales to neighboring states with lower or no taxes on firearms and ammunition.
A range of speakers — victims, hospital leaders, community-based organizations, gun-industry representatives and rural business owners — testified across roughly four hours. Supporters emphasized the fiscal and human costs of gun violence, citing state estimates of annual costs to Maryland in the billions and hospital-specific numbers for treatment and long-term care. Opponents warned of litigation risk and economic harm to local dealers.
The committee did not take a vote during the hearing. Members asked a mix of policy and implementation questions: whether the tax would replace or stack with the 6% sales tax; whether out-of-state sellers would be reachable for collection; how funding would be distributed among trauma centers, VIP programs and other line items; and the bill’s burden on rural gun retailers and shooting-sports clubs.
Where it stood: lawmakers and witnesses emphasized competing priorities — preserving lawful commerce and sporting traditions while creating new, sustained funding for public health responses to firearm injury.
