In MD, you do not have to buy any licence for any handgun or rifle or shotgun. They just have to fill out the paperwork for a longgun, they call the NICs system, and that day, they can walk out the door with your 870. For a handgun, they have to watch a safety video, fill out the paperwork, go thru the NIC's system and then MD state police will recieve a fired case from your gun, and will contact the pistol seller, to release the gun, which is usually 5-7 business days.