HOUSE . . . . . . . No. 4135
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, October 17, 2023.
The committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the
message from Her Excellency the Governor submitting requests for
making appropriations for the fiscal year 2023 for supplementing certain
existing appropriations and for certain other activities and projects (House,
No. 4090), reports, in part, recommending that the accompanying bill
(House, No. 4135), ought to pass [Representatives Smola of Warren,
D’Emilia of Bridgewater, Muratore of Plymouth, Berthiaume of Spencer,
McKenna of Webster, Pease of Westfield, Sullivan-Almeida of Abington
and Xiarhos of Barnstable dissent].
For the committee,
AARON MICHLEWITZ.
FILED ON: 10/17/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4135
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act modernizing firearm laws.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 of the General Laws, as
2 appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subclause (j) and
3 inserting in place thereof the following subclause:-
4 (j) the names and addresses of any persons contained in, or referred to in, any
5 applications for any licenses to carry or possess firearms issued pursuant to chapter 140 or any
6 long gun permits issued pursuant to said chapter 140 and the names and addresses on sales or
7 transfers of any firearms or ammunition therefor, as defined in said chapter 140 and the names
8 and addresses on said licenses or permits;.
9 SECTION 2. Section 172M of chapter 6 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
10 amended by striking out, in line 3, the figure “122” and inserting in place thereof the following
11 figure:- 125.
12 SECTION 3. Said section 172M of said chapter 6, as so appearing, is hereby further
13 amended by striking out, in lines 6 and 7, the words:- “and unmonitored contact with firearms,
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14 shotguns or rifles” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- contact with firearms, as
15 defined in section 121 of said chapter 140.
16 SECTION 4. Section 5J of chapter 18 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
17 amended by striking out, in lines 9 to 11, inclusive, the words “firearms dealers licensed pursuant
18 to section 122 of chapter 140 and ammunitions dealers licensed pursuant to section 122B of
19 said” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- persons licensed pursuant to section
20 125 of.
21 SECTION 5. Section 2LLL of chapter 29 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
22 amended by striking out, in lines 8 and 9, the words “fee assessed under sections 122, 122B,
23 129B, 131, 131A, 131F, and 131H” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- fees
24 assessed under section 123B for licenses and permits issued pursuant to sections 124 to 124C,
25 inclusive, 124E, 125 and 125B.
26 SECTION 6. Section 22F of chapter 40 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
27 amended by striking out, in line 17, the number “131N” and inserting in place thereof the
28 number:- 131H.
29 SECTION 7. Section 10B of chapter 66 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
30 amended by striking out, in lines 7 and 8, the following words:- , rifles, shotguns, machine guns.
31 SECTION 8. Said section 10B of said chapter 66, as so appearing, is hereby further
32 amended, in line 14, by inserting after the word “request” the following words:- provided,
33 however, that nothing in this section shall prohibit the transmission of data and other information
34 to the department of criminal justice information services and its use pursuant to section 122B of
35 chapter 140.
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36 SECTION 9. Section 26 of chapter 90B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
37 amended by striking out, in line 66, the words “rifle or shotgun” and inserting in place thereof
38 the following words:- as defined in section 121 of chapter 140,.
39 SECTION 10. Said section 26 of said chapter 90B, as so appearing, is hereby further
40 amended by striking out, in lines 68 to 69, inclusive, the words “such firearm, rifle or shotgun is
41 unloaded and in an enclosed case” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- such
42 person possesses the required firearms license or permit issued under sections 124 to 124B,
43 inclusive, of chapter 140 and carries such firearm in compliance with section 126B of chapter
44 140. Any violation of this subsection shall be penalized in accordance with section 126B of
45 chapter 140.
46 SECTION 11. Section 244 of chapter 111 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
47 amended by striking out, in line 48, the words “131R to 131Y” and inserting in place thereof the
48 following words:- 131 to 131H.
49 SECTION 12. Section 35 of chapter 123 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
50 amended by striking out, in lines 114 and 115, the words “firearm identification card pursuant to
51 section 129B of chapter 140 or a license to carry pursuant to sections 131 and 131F” and
52 inserting in place thereof the following words:- firearms license or permit pursuant to sections
53 124 to 124B, inclusive,.
54 SECTION 13. Said section 35 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby further
55 amended by striking out, in line 122, the words “rifle or shotgun” and inserting in place thereof
56 the following words:- as defined in section 121 of chapter 140.
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57 SECTION 14. Section 36C of said chapter 123 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is
58 hereby amended by striking out, in lines 8 and 9, the words “firearm identification card pursuant
59 to section 129B of chapter 140 or a license to carry pursuant to sections 131 and 131F of said
60 chapter” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- firearms license or permit pursuant
61 to sections 124 to 124B, inclusive, of chapter.
62 SECTION 15. Section 11 of chapter 131 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
63 amended by striking out, in lines 35 and 36, the words “one hundred and thirty-one H of chapter
64 one hundred and forty” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- 124B of chapter 140.
65 SECTION 16. Said chapter 131, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking
66 out section 62 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
67 Section 62. A person, with a percentage, by weight, of alcohol in their blood of eight one-
68 hundredths or greater, or while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, or of marihuana,
69 narcotic drugs, depressant or stimulant substances, all as defined in section 1 of chapter 94C, or
70 who intentionally smells or inhales the fumes of any substance having the property of releasing
71 toxic vapors in violation of section 18 of chapter 270, shall not hunt or carry a firearm, bow and
72 arrow or other weapon while engaged in hunting or target shooting. A violation of this section
73 shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 or by imprisonment in the house of
74 correction for not more than 2 ½ years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
75 SECTION 17. Section 90 of said chapter 131, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
76 striking out, in line 7, the figure “, 62”.
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77 SECTION 18. Section 121 of chapter 140 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
78 amended by striking out, in line 1, the figure “131Y” and inserting in place thereof the following
79 figure:- 131H.
80 SECTION 19. Said section 121 of said chapter 140, as so appearing, is hereby further
81 amended by striking out the definition of “Ammunition” and inserting in place thereof the
82 following 3 definitions:-
83 “Additive manufacturing”, a process in which material is added to produce a product,
84 including, but not limited to 3-dimensional printing.
85 “Ammunition”, cartridges or cartridge cases, primers (igniter), bullets or propellant
86 powder designed for use in any firearm; provided, that “ammunition” shall also mean tear gas
87 cartridges.
88 “Antique firearm”, any firearm or replica thereof manufactured in or prior to the year
89 1899 if such firearm: (i) is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire
90 fixed ammunition; or (ii) uses rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition that is no
91 longer manufactured in the United States and which is not readily available in the ordinary
92 channels of commercial trade; provided, that “antique firearm” shall include any muzzle loading
93 rifle, shotgun or pistol that is designed to use black powder, or a black powder substitute, and
94 that cannot use fixed ammunition, unless the firearm: (i) incorporates a firearm frame or
95 receiver; (ii) is converted into a muzzle loading weapon; or (iii) is a muzzle loading weapon that
96 can be readily converted to fire fixed ammunition by replacing the barrel, bolt, breechblock, or
97 any combination thereof.
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98 SECTION 20. Said section 121 of said chapter 140, as so appearing, is hereby further
99 amended by striking out the definition of “Assault weapon” and inserting in place thereof the
100 following 5 definitions:-
101 “Assault-style firearm”, any firearm which is:
102 (a) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle with the capacity to accept a detachable feeding
103 device and includes any of the following features: (i) a folding or telescopic stock; (ii) a
104 thumbhole stock or pistol grip; (iii) a forward grip or second handgrip or protruding grip that can
105 be held by the non-trigger hand; (iv) a threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash
106 suppressor or muzzle break or similar feature; or (v) a shroud that encircles either all or part of
107 the barrel designed to shield the bearer’s hand from heat, excluding a slide that encloses the
108 barrel.
109 (b) A semiautomatic pistol with the capacity to accept a detachable feeding device and
110 includes any of the following features: (i) the capacity to accept a feeding device that attaches to
111 the pistol outside of the pistol grip; (ii) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by
112 the non-trigger hand; (iii) a threaded barrel capable of accepting a flash suppressor, forward
113 handgrip or silencer; or (iv) a shroud that encircles either all or part of the barrel designed to
114 shield the bearer’s hand from heat, excluding a slide that encloses the barrel.
115 (c) A semiautomatic shotgun with the capacity to accept a detachable feeding device and
116 includes any of the following features: (i) a folding or telescopic stock; (ii) a thumbhole stock or
117 pistol grip; or (iii) a protruding grip for the non-trigger hand.
118 (d) Any firearm listed on the assault-style firearm roster pursuant to section 128A.
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119 (e) All of the following rifles:
120 (i) All AK types, including the following: AK, AK47, AK47S, AK-74, AKM, AKS,
121 ARM, MAK90, MISR, NHM90, NHM91, Rock River Arms LAR-47, SA85, SA93, Vector
122 Arms AK-47, VEPR, WASR-10 and WUM, IZHMASH Saiga AK, MAADI AK47 and ARM,
123 Norinco 56S, 56S2, 84S and 86S, Poly Technologies AK47 and AKS and SKS with a detachable
124 feeding device;
125 (ii) All AR types, including the following: AR-10, AR-15, Alexander Arms Overmatch
126 Plus 16, Armalite M15 22LR Carbine, Armalite M15-T, Barrett REC7, Beretta AR-70, Black
127 Rain Ordnance Recon Scout, Bushmaster ACR, Bushmaster Carbon 15, Bushmaster MOE
128 series, Bushmaster XM15, Chiappa Firearms MFour rifles, Colt Match Target rifles, CORE Rifle
129 Systems CORE15 rifles, Daniel Defense M4A1 rifles, Devil Dog Arms 15 Series rifles,
130 Diamondback DB15 rifles, DoubleStar AR rifles, DPMS Tactical rifles, DSA Inc. ZM-4
131 Carbine, Heckler & Koch MR556, High Standard HSA-15 rifles, Jesse James Nomad AR-15
132 rifles, Knight’s Armament SR-15, Lancer L15 rifles, MGI Hydra Series rifles, Mossberg MMR
133 Tactical rifles, Noreen Firearms BN 36 rifle, Olympic Arms, POF USA P415, Precision Firearms
134 AR rifles, Remington R-15 rifles, Rhino Arms AR rifles, Rock River Arms LAR-15, Sig Sauer
135 SIG516, M400 and SIG716 rifles, Smith & Wesson M&P15 rifles, Stag Arms AR rifles, Sturm,
136 Ruger & Co. SR556 and AR-556 rifles, Uselton Arms Air-Lite M-4 rifles, Windham Weaponry
137 AR rifles, WMD Guns Big Beast, Yankee Hill Machine Company, Inc. YHM-15 rifles;
138 (iii) Barrett M107A1 and M82A1;
139 (iv) Beretta CX4 Storm;
140 (v) Calico Liberty Series;
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141 (vi) CETME Sporter;
142 (vii) Daewoo K-1, K-2, Max 1, Max 2, AR 100 and AR 110C;
143 (viii) Fabrique Nationale/FN Herstal FAL, LAR, 22 FNC, 308 Match, L1A1 Sporter,
144 PS90, SCAR and FS2000;
145 (ix) Feather Industries AT-9;
146 (x) Galil Model AR and Model ARM;
147 (xi) Hi-Point Carbine;
148 (xii) HK-91, HK-93, HK-94, HK-PSG-1 and HK USC;
149 (xiii) IWI TAVOR and Galil ACE rifle;
150 (xiv) Kel-Tec Sub 2000, SU-16, RDB and RFB;
151 (xv) SIG AMT, SIG PE-57, SIG556, Sig Sauer SG 550, Sig Sauer SG 551 and SIG
152 MCX;
153 (xvi) Springfield Armory SAR-48;
154 (xvii) Steyr AUG;
155 (xviii) Sturm, Ruger & Co. Mini-14 Tactical Rifle M-14/20CF;
156 (xix) All Thompson rifles, including the following: M1SB, T1100D, T150D, T1B,
157 T1B100D, T1B50D, T1BSB, T1-C, T1D, T1SB, T5, T5100D, TM1, TM1C;
158 (xx) UMAREX UZI rifle;
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159 (xxi) UZI Mini Carbine, UZI Model A Carbine and UZI Model B Carbine;
160 (xxii) Valmet M62S, M71S and M78;
161 (xxiii) Vector Arms UZI Type;
162 (xxiv) Weaver Arms Nighthawk; and
163 (xxv) Wilkinson Arms Linda Carbine.
164 (f) All of the following pistols:
165 (i) All AK types, including the following: Centurion 39 AK pistol, Draco AK-47 pistol,
166 HCR AK-47 pistol, IO Inc. Hellpup AK-47 pistol, Krinkov pistol, Mini Draco AK-47 pistol,
167 PAP M92 pistol and Yugo Krebs Krink pistol;
168 (ii) All AR types, including the following: American Spirit AR-15 pistol, Bushmaster
169 Carbon 15 pistol, Chiappa Firearms M4 Pistol GEN II, CORE Rifle Systems CORE15 Roscoe
170 pistol, Daniel Defense MK18 pistol, DoubleStar Corporation AR pistol, DPMS AR-15 pistol,
171 Jesse James Nomad AR-15 pistol, Olympic Arms AR-15 pistol, Osprey Armament MK-18
172 pistol, POF USA AR pistols, Rock River Arms LAR 15 pistol and Uselton Arms Air-Lite M-4
173 pistol;
174 (iii) Calico pistols;
175 (iv) CZ Scorpion and CZ BREN;
176 (v) DSA SA58 PKP FAL pistol;
177 (vi) Encom MP-9 and MP-45;
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178 (vii) Heckler & Koch model SP-89 pistol;
179 (viii) Intratec AB-10, TEC-22 Scorpion, TEC-9 and TEC-DC9;
180 (ix) IWI Galil Ace pistol, UZI PRO pistol;
181 (x) Kel-Tec PLR 16 pistol;
182 (xi) All MAC types, including the following: MAC-10, MAC-11, Masterpiece Arms
183 MPA A930 Mini Pistol, MPA460 Pistol, MPA Tactical Pistol and MPA Mini Tactical Pistol,
184 Military Armament Corp. Ingram M-11 and Velocity Arms VMAC;
185 (xii) Sig Sauer P556 pistol;
186 (xiii) Sites Spectre;
187 (xiv) All Thompson types, including the following: TA510D and TA5; and
188 (xv) All UZI types, including Micro-UZI.
189 (g) All of the following shotguns:
190 (i) DERYA Anakon MC-1980, Anakon SD12;
191 (ii) Doruk Lethal shotguns;
192 (iii) Franchi LAW-12 and SPAS 12;
193 (iv) All IZHMASH Saiga 12 types, including the following: Saiga 12, Saiga 12S, Saiga
194 12S EXP-01, Saiga 12K, Saiga 12K-030, Saiga 12K-040 Taktika;
195 (v) Street Sweeper; and
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196 (vi) Striker 12.
197 (h) Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder.
198 (i) All belt-fed semiautomatic firearms, including TNW M2HB and FN M249S.
199 (j) a copy or duplicate of any firearm meeting the standards of or enumerated in clauses
200 (d) to (i), inclusive; provided, that for the purposes of this subsection, “copy or duplicate” shall
201 mean a firearm: (A) that was manufactured or subsequently configured with an ability to accept a
202 detachable magazine; and (B)(i) that has internal functional components that are substantially
203 similar in construction and configuration to those of an enumerated weapon in clauses (d) to (i),
204 inclusive; or (ii) that has a receiver that is the same as or interchangeable with the receiver of an
205 enumerated weapon in said clauses.
206 (k) “Assault-style firearm” shall not include any: (i) firearm that is operated by manual
207 bolt, pump, lever or slide action; (ii) firearm that has been rendered permanently inoperable or
208 otherw