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Tech Now
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Maryland's Glock Ban Aims At The Gun, Not The Criminal
Authored by David Manney via PJ Media,
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed SB 334 into law Tuesday, putting the state on a collision course with gun owners, firearm dealers, and 2nd Amendment groups.
The law targets "machine gun convertible pistols," mainly Glock-style semiauto handguns that use a cruciform trigger bar. Maryland lawmakers argue criminals can convert those firearms into fully auto with illegal devices called Glock switches.
The question remains: Why is Maryland banning future sales of common handguns because criminals already break the law with illegal conversion devices?
SB 334 bars manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, purchasing, receiving, or transferring covered pistols after January 1, 2027. Current owners won't have to surrender their firearms, and like hell they should. Active and retired law enforcement officers receive exemptions, and the law also allows immediate family transfers, inheritances, and certain gunsmith repairs.
State Sen. Sara Love (D-Montgomery County) sponsored SB 334. Del. Nicole Williams (D-Prince George's County) sponsored HB 557, the companion bill in the House of Delegates. The Senate passed SB 334 by a 28-16 vote on March 19. The House passed it 91-40 on April 9 before Moore approved the bill as Chapter 771.
Supporters frame the law as a public safety measure. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, and other officials have also pursued Glock through litigation, arguing Glock pistols can be converted too easily with auto sears.
Police officials have warned about converted weapons appearing in crimes and threatening officers. A fully automatic weapon in criminal hands can turn a street dispute into a massacre in seconds.
Yet the constitutional problem remains. Glock switches are already illegal under federal law and Maryland law. The new law burdens future lawful buyers because criminals misuse illegal parts. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearm industry trade association, warned the measure would prohibit an entire class of lawfully made and lawfully sold handguns. The NRA also prepared a legal challenge after Moore approved the law. From the NSSF:
"To borrow on a line from James Carville, whom Democrats revere, 'it's the criminal, stupid,'" said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF's Senior Vice President & General Counsel. "These bills, and similar laws passed in other states, punish law-abiding citizens by infringing on their Second Amendment rights to legally obtain the firearms they choose to protect themselves and their families against criminals who, by definition, have no respect for life or law. Instead of enforcing the law and holding these criminals accountable, Maryland's lawmakers pander to gun control donors and antigun special interests to ban an entire class of firearms, which the U.S. Supreme Court's Heller decision clearly holds violates the U.S. Constitution. Should Governor Moore sign these bills into law, NSSF intends to have Maryland's Attorney General Anthony Brown explain in court why Maryland willfully violates the rights of her citizens and ignores its responsibility to hold criminals accountable."
Mark Pennak, president of Maryland Shall Issue, has called the bill unconstitutional and signaled a lawsuit. Maryland House Republicans also urged Moore to veto the bill, arguing the law bans the most popular handgun in the state because of conduct already forbidden by law.
The United States Supreme Court has said the 2nd Amendment protects weapons "in common use" for lawful purposes, and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen requires modern gun laws to fit the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.
Maryland didn't solve the Glock switch problem by signing SB 334; it shifted pressure from criminals with illegal conversion devices to lawful buyers who want ordinary self-defense handguns.
Courts will decide whether the state can make that leap. Until then, Moore has given Maryland a gun law with a messy constitutional foundation and a lawsuit almost certain to follow.
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'We Outright Grabbed The Wallets': Bessent Boasts $1BN In Iran State Crypto Seized To Date
Washington's economic war on Iran and its 'shadow' banking network continues, as on Friday Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the US has seized $1 billion in Iranian cryptocurrency assets as part of the economic component of President Trump's Operation Epic Fury.
The billion dollar figure represents the running total seized to date, building on prior milestones in the conflict, particularly a recent major April 2026 freeze of $344 million in USDT on the Tron blockchain. By close of April, $500 million total had been seized.
And so clearly with the addition since then of some half-billion dollars more in seized digital assets, the US Treasury program has only greatly accelerated in the last several weeks.
During his Friday speech before the Reagan National Economic Forum, Bessent stated:
"Just outright grabbed the wallets. Some of them may be typing in right now and might not realize their wallet had been grabbed."
Assets are held "on behalf of the Iranian people" - he described, while framing that the Iranian government had 'stolen' the money from the Iranian populace.
Bessent on Iran:
We have seized about $1 billion of Iran's crypto — just outright grabbed the wallets.
Some of them may be typing in right now and might not realize their wallet has been grabbed.
This is money that's stolen from the Iranian people. pic.twitter.com/h3ycrJn1Jy
Bessent is signaling further relentless waves of OFAC wallet designations and aggressive asset forfeitures coming in the next months, as highly sanctioned Iran continues to seek alternative means of conducting financial transactions.
As we've featured before, for ordinary Iranians - roughly one in six of the population - crypto served as a vital lifeline. Facing relentless rial depreciation (down nearly 90 percent since 2018), chronic inflation of 40 to 50 percent, and frequent power blackouts or internet shutdowns during protests, citizens turned to Bitcoin and stablecoins like U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins (USDT) on the Tron network to hedge savings, facilitate remittances, and move value when traditional banking failed. Spikes in Bitcoin withdrawals to personal wallets often coincided with domestic unrest and regional conflicts.
Yet this parallel financial system has also become a powerful tool for the state. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) steadily tightened its grip on Iran’s crypto flows. IRGC-linked addresses received more than $3 billion in 2025—up from over $2 billion in 2024—with their share rising to more than 50 percent of total Iranian crypto inflows by the end of 2025. These figures represent conservative lower bounds based only on identified and sanctioned wallets.
Washington in the meantime is still entertaining dreams of sparking some kind of anti-regime uprising based on applying the economic squeeze to the Iranian system, but apart from unrest back in January, this has utterly failed to materialize.
Tyler Durden Fri, 05/29/2026 - 20:30