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Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Assault Weapons in Massachusetts.’ Hardware & Ammunition. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 29 March

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Assault Weapons in Massachusetts

No person in Massachusetts may sell, offer for sale, transfer or possess an assault weapon (or large capacity feeding device… that was not otherwise lawfully possessed on September 13, 1994. Firearms dealers are also specifically prohibited from selling, leasing, renting, transferring, delivering, or offering for sale, lease, rent, transfer or delivery, any assault weapon or large capacity feeding device not otherwise lawfully possessed on September 13, 1994.

Massachusetts defines "assault weapon" by referring to the definition of semi-automatic assault weapon contained in federal law as it appeared on September 13, 1994 (that federal statute expired on September 13, 2004).

The definition includes a list of named weapons and copies of those weapons; semi-automatic rifles and pistols that have the ability to accept a detachable magazine and have at least two specified characteristics; and semi-automatic shotguns that have at least two specified characteristics.

The Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety ("Secretary") is required to compile and publish a roster of firearms and feeding devices that he or she determines meet the definitions of those terms. The Secretary may amend the roster upon his or her own initiative, upon the initiative of the Gun Control Advisory Board, or upon the petition of any person seeking to place a weapon on or remove a weapon from the roster. Weapons and feeding devices not included on the roster may still qualify as large capacity firearms or feeding devices if they fit within the above definitions…

[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]

ID: Q8561

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