Q: If a gun is taken apart does it still considered as a loaded handgun ?
I was with a friend he’s a part collector but we got pulled over in his car and in the statement of charges it says loaded handgun but the gun was not even put together it was broke down to nothing basically
A:
A “gun part collector”? Sounds like a dodge to me. Regardless, the definition of a firearm is found in the Maryland Public Safety Code, Section 5-101 (h)(1) “Firearm” means:
(i) a weapon that expels, is designed to expel, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; or
(ii) the frame or receiver of such a weapon.”
So, if you are carting around parts that can be readily assembled into a gun, you are transporting a gun. If you have the frame or receiver of a gun that is designed to hold the barrel or hammer (the term is defined under federal law, and cited in appellate opinions by the Court of Appeals of Maryland) then that alone is deemed possession of a regulated firearm (assuming it is not the frame of an excepted weapon like an antique firearm or shotgun). A handgun does not need to be operable (able to actually fire a projectile) to fit within this definition. So, yes, your friend can be charged, assuming the parts he had would fit under the above definition. He should get a lawyer, obviously, as he does not want this on his record (or to go to jail).
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