Deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division arrested an 18-year-old passenger after recovering a loaded unserialized 9mm handgun during a traffic stop on October 17, 2025. The operation began with proactive enforcement in the 21000 block of Colton Point Road in Avenue, where detectives spotted a subject prohibited from possessing firearms due to his age carrying what appeared to be a weapon. Assistance from patrol units led to a stop of a gold sports utility vehicle in the 22000 block of Duke Street here, where a search uncovered the firearm on Omari Lee Miles of California, Maryland.
Miles faces six firearm-related charges: wearing a handgun on his person; wearing a loaded handgun on his person; wearing a handgun in a vehicle on public roads; wearing a loaded handgun in a vehicle on public roads; unlawfully possessing an unserialized firearm; and possession of a regulated firearm while under the age of 21. The handgun, a Polymer 80 model equipped with a 40-round extended magazine, qualifies as a ghost gun due to its lack of serial number, making it untraceable through standard law enforcement databases. Deputies transported Miles to the St. Mary’s County Detention and Rehabilitation Center, where he remains held without bond as of October 20, 2025.
Maryland law strictly regulates firearm access for those under 21, classifying handguns like the Polymer 80 as regulated firearms. Individuals in this age group cannot possess them except under limited circumstances, such as supervised marksmanship training, inheritance from a family member, military service, employment requirements or self-defense in one’s dwelling. Violations constitute a misdemeanor under Public Safety Article 5-133, carrying potential penalties of up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both. Each count stands as a separate offense, compounding the legal exposure in cases like Miles’.
Ghost guns, often assembled from kits like the Polymer 80, evade federal serialization requirements and background checks. Maryland’s 2022 ghost gun law, effective June 1 that year, banned sales and transfers of unserialized firearms and unfinished frames or receivers. Possession became illegal starting March 1, 2023, with allowances for serialization through licensed dealers before that date. The statute defines firearms broadly to include partially completed components ready for assembly into functional weapons. Exceptions cover antiques, law enforcement surrenders and transfers to federal licensees, but general possession without a valid serial number remains prohibited if the owner knew or should have known of the deficiency. Penalties for ghost gun offenses can reach felony levels in related contexts, such as transfers, with up to five years imprisonment.
