Massachusetts gun laws

C

candr44

New member
I'm moving to the Boston area (not in Boston itself) from Florida for a job and need some information. I know about the firearms I.D. requirement to own a gun, ammo, and magazines, the high capacity mag ban, and the assault weapons ban. What I don't know is do they make a magazine exemption for tube fed .22 rifles? If I'm correct, a high capacity magazine is ok if it was made before the ban and most of my .22 rifles are older than the ban. Also, how do they deal with someone with a 03 C&R FFL license? Any state restrictions placed on a 03 license?

From what I have read, Massachusetts bans gun stores from selling certain model guns but does that mean no one can own those guns if they already have them? Can they be brought into the state as personal property if they comply with the magazine capacity and assault weapons ban?

I know the local police chief has discretion on who gets a firearms I.D. or a license to carry. Are they often denied and how hard is it to get a license to carry? I am moving to Swampscott if that makes a difference.

For now my guns will stay in storage in Florida until I'm sure Massachusetts won't make me an instant felon. They may stay there until I leave Massachusetts as I have no intention of retiring there. The gun laws are oddly restrictive considering its the state where the American revolution started.
 
As said Northeastshooters.com will be your best source of information. It's geared towards all of new England, but Mass residents make up the biggest group of users.

I live in Mass but unfortunately do not know the answer to your question on the tube fed 22lr. As to the 03FFL, you can have any eligible 03 firearm on the list. The problem though will come with any of them that come with high cap mags. Mass' AWB does not retire and state that any high caps need to have been in the state prior to the ban. So any C&R cannot be shipped to you with high caps. I have an 03 myself and there have been a few items I wish I could have purchased, but couldn't.

Your bigger problem is that many of the main sites that sell 03 items will not ship to Mass at all. The AG has been very active threatening companies with lawsuits and filing charges against anyone who ships prohibited items into Mass. This includes bulk ammo resellers. Mass has a law that states you must present a valid license in person to buy ammo. Because you can't do that with an online reseller, it's illegal for them to ship ammo to Mass.

Now there are resellers that will still ship to Mass, but they are few and far between. The AG is actively monitoring NES to find these resellers, so it's strictly forbidden to give that info out on NES. Now if you happen to attend one of our shoots, well, that's a good place to get this kind of information!

In all seriousness, if you are coming up here for a job and it happens to be north or northwest of the city I'd seriously consider moving into a NH boarder town and commute down. Gun laws are much better up there.
 
From what I have read, Massachusetts bans gun stores from selling certain model guns but does that mean no one can own those guns if they already have them? Can they be brought into the state as personal property if they comply with the magazine capacity and assault weapons ban?
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You're thinking of the EOPS list that only applies to handguns, and it's sort of the other way around - Massachusetts doesn't ban certain guns, rather it lists the handguns that are approved to be sold by dealers in Massachusetts; anything not on the list is in effect banned, of course. There's also an approval required by the Consumer Safety branch of the Attorney General's office, but there's apparently no list for that, at least not one that's made public, so nobody really knows just what the hell is going on, which is of course how the authorities like it. The key part of all that is that it applies only to dealers, so any handgun already legally in the state can be sold in a private sale, subject to a limit of 4-sales-per-year per individual seller. The hi-cap ban and the so-called assault weapon ban are in force, but are separate from the handgun list.

The key thing for someone like you moving into Mass is that you can bring handguns into the state, even if they are not on the list (again, the hi-cap and assault weapon bans still apply). And, once you have legally brought them into the state you can sell 4 per year in private sales. There are particular gun models that Mass residents will pay a premium for (Glocks and Colts come to mind) because they're not currently on the list, so you might want to think about stocking up on those before you move into Mass, being aware of course of the laws regarding straw purchases and the definition of a firearms "dealer." As an earlier poster mentioned, much more to be learned about all this on the Northeastshooters.com forum.

You already got the best advice you're going to get about all this, and that's not to live in Massachusetts in the first place. I did for far too many years before I was able to escape to gun-friendly New Hampshire.

To the best of my knowledge, the magazine capacity laws apply only to detachable magazines, so your tube-fed .22 should be fine.
 
Depending on the city it can be extremely difficult to get a Class A in Massachusetts. I've known successful businessmen, veterans, and others who simply can't get one. It's up to the local chief's discretion and if he says no then you're out of luck.

Getting an FID card (rifles and shotguns) isn't that difficult, and you may get lucky and get a Class B license which would allow you to buy handguns and transport them in a locked container to the range, but a Class A can be a real challenge. I was one of the very lucky.

Do yourself a favor and don't move there. Traffic is absolutely outrageous and the people are only superficially friendly. I spent my life in the area you describe. I wouldn't recommend it.
 
Depending on the city it can be extremely difficult to get a Class A in Massachusetts. I've known successful businessmen, veterans, and others who simply can't get one. It's up to the local chief's discretion and if he says no then you're out of luck.

Getting an FID card (rifles and shotguns) isn't that difficult, and you may get lucky and get a Class B license which would allow you to buy handguns and transport them in a locked container to the range, but a Class A can be a real challenge. I was one of the very lucky.
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NES have several posts telling you which towns are gun friendly and which towns are unfriendly. Boston and immediate towns around it, for the most part, are very unfriendly. There are three levels of gun licenses in Mass. The FID is the lowest one with LTC B being next and then LTC A. No matter what anyone tells you apply for an All Lawful Purposes (ALP) LTC A.

ALP means you can carry concealed. Some towns will issue a LTC A, but put restrictions on it like Target and Sport, etc. This means you can buy any qualified LTC A gun, but you can't carry them.

As a gun owner I've said it above and I'll say it again. Don't move here if at all possible.
 
Plenty of people live in Maine or New Hampshire and commute to work in Boston. Here in Southern Maine we've got train and bus options as an alternative to driving in heavy traffic, plenty of people take those options and get plenty of work done on the way to work and back.

Keep your options open when moving to this part of New England. Up here we have a term that starts with Mass and ends with hole.
 
Tube fed .22 rifles are exempt from the magazine restrictions. As far as I know there is no more LTC B, as of 1/1/15 all handgun permits are just LTC. There may be restrictions put on the LTC, these would be target, hunting and sporting. Target/hunting is the most likely restriction. All guns unloaded in locked containers, transport to and from range/hunting area. Sporting allows hikers and campers to carry when engaged in these activities. The actual laws are much more complex, please do some reading of the regulations we have to get exact info.
You can contact GOAL, (Gun Owners Action League), they should be able to provide assistance with your questions. Link www.goal.org
Also, as a gun owner, please do move here, we need more people like you.
 
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Thanks everybody for the information it was very helpful, especially the links. From what I have read on Northeast Shooters Forum GOAL does more for Massachusetts gun owners than the NRA. It seems the NRA has written off Massachusetts. One other question I have is does the government look for excuses to take away a firearms I.D. or a LTC? I don't want to bring my guns there only to have to surrender them because of the whims of the government.

I will bring some of my guns there once I get settled in and get a feel for the attitudes towards gun owners in the place I finally settle down in. Some guns I own will never be legal there and will have to stay behind.

[QUOTE There are particular gun models that Mass residents will pay a premium for (Glocks and Colts come to mind) because they're not currently on the list,][/QUOTE]

This sounds a lot like your used gun prices there are artificially inflated because of government restrictions. That's great if I'm selling but not so great if I want to buy.

Florida to Mass - Ooooo, that's gonna be harsh! Ouch.
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Yes it will be but the job is worth moving for and my daughter will be in a better school system. I'm not looking forward to Winter though or the ridiculously high cost of housing. I will miss the free shooting range and being able to buy anything I want with no waiting period. Also, being able to defend myself from an attacker without ending up in court defending myself from the government.
 
If your new place of employment is north of Boston, I would seriously consider living in southern NH.... which is VERY 2A friendly.

I don't know much about Swampscott, but Marblehead, to the north, is quite ritzy and Lynn, to the south, is a total dump. Lynn, Lynn, city of sin. :p

The entire area is way to built up and crowded for me.... and the traffic is notorious. And as you already mentioned, the cost of housing is absolutely ridiculous.

But... Boston is a very nice city to visit for games, museums, events and history. I took the family down for First Night (what New Englanders call New Years Eve) and we had a great time. Big crowds, but people were polite and the police presence was very significant. We walked all over creation and didn't feel ill at ease at all.

Just don't root for the Yankees, or you will be very unpopular.

If you're going to survive winter and not be miserable, take up outdoor winter activities.

My good friends son is a probation officer in MA and even he had a very difficult time getting a concealed carry permit.

It's actually easier to get an out of state CCW in MA than it is for a resident CCW. But it costs you $100/year and you have to make a physical appearance every time you re-up the permit.
 
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