MARYLAND'S state police superintendent called it "a major blunder." He told some legislators heads would roll. But all this cannot erase the scandalous disclosure of bureaucratic snafus that let at least 54 potentially dangerous people buy firearms.

Under Maryland law, state police troopers have seven days to conduct investigations into handgun applicants. Felons, drug addicts, teen-agers, those convicted of domestic violence or with a history of mental illness aren't supposed to be able to buy guns.

But starting in December, computer glitches and poor decision-making created a huge backlog of 1,500 unchecked applications. Some gun dealers haven't heard back from the state police for two months. Yet once the seven-day waiting period passes, there's nothing to stop dealers from selling guns to unchecked applicants.

Officials couldn't have picked a worse moment to upgrade the state police computers. It was no secret that a new federal system of instant background checks was experiencing its own problems. The alarm bells that should have sounded never went off -- even when troopers fell behind in processing handgun applications.

None of this excuses what happened. The chain of command broke down. No one alerted superintendent Col. David B. Mitchell. Even a February letter responding to a legislative audit covered up the severity of the situation.

Colonel Mitchell has ordered an internal investigation. Legislators are requiring a follow-up audit of the background-checking operation. More is needed.

This blunder follows on the heels of other missteps by the state police in granting family leave time and in eliminating racial disparities in traffic stops. The department's management practices need an overhaul.

The state police remains an insular agency where problems get concealed until they explode. This must stop.

Colonel Mitchell should call in outside experts to help him revamp the agency's personnel, training and supervisory practices. The gun-check delays could have been deadly. A more modern and effective management system would have flagged problems when they surfaced, not after festering for months.