Assault Style Firearm Update – March 27, 2025
State Interpretations – “
You have to know what was, in order to understand what is.”
FCAB Draft Roster Explanation
Ever since the passage of Chapter 135, among a long list of other things, GOAL has been trying to give concise advice on the “Assault Style Firearms” (ASF) laws. The combination of the definitions in Chapter 140, Section 121 together with Chapter 140, Section 131M create a “Devil’s Snare”. The harder one tries to figure it out, the more confusing it gets.
In reviewing drafts from the Firearm Control Advisory Board (FCAB) and hearing what law enforcement is being taught by the “Municipal Police Training Committee”, it is clear that the State is only adding to the confusion. One of the main points of that confusion for the 2A community has been the so-called grandfathering dates. Within the actual letter of the current law there are only two dates referenced regarding actual firearms: July 20, 2016 & August 1, 2024.
The September 13, 1994 date itself no longer appears in the law other than restrictions on magazines, but the State is still using it in discussions about features restrictions. The significance of this date stretches back to the 1994 federal assault weapons ban and the Massachusetts 1998 Gun Control Act wherein any firearms purchased prior to that date are exempt from the so-called “features” test. Meaning that the government’s logic is that we must know
what the law used to be in order to determine what firearms could be exempt from certain parts of the law prior to August 1, 2024.
To complicate any effort of reasonable interpretation, the July 20, 2016, date in the law uses the language:
“… shall not be considered a copy or duplicate” in its discussion of the enumerated list of banned guns. A commonsense reading of that passage to most people, that reference is meaningless. However, to the state, they are codifying the Attorney General’s 2016 Enforcement Notice. As such, Any ASF that is a copy or duplicate of one of the enumerated firearms, will not be considered a copy or duplicate if it was
lawfully possessed in Massachusetts,
registered and
serialized prior to July 20, 2016, and has
less than two “features.” (These were commonly called “Mass Compliant.”)
Further, the draft explanation refers to the July 20, 2016 Attorney General’s Enforcement Notice on Prohibited Assault Weapons. This is problematic as that guidance concerns laws that no longer exist, or, at least, are very different.
There is currently no clarity on how frames or receivers are being treated either. The same is true for building from lowers, unfinished or otherwise. For instance, if we can legally build a firearm from a lawfully possessed AR lower, what can we actually build? Do the feature tests apply? For what date?
In an effort to pare these regulations down to as simple a form as possible; the following convoluted bullet points
do not necessarily reflect the opinion of GOAL and at this point our interpretation will not protect anyone moving forward. These are what the state is pushing and we will likely have to challenge.
- ANY ASF of ANY category (Section 121) must have been lawfully possessed in Massachusetts, registered, and serialized on or before August 1, 2024 – likely including unfinished frames and receivers purchased prior to that date.
- The September 13, 1994 list of enumerated ASFs is being strictly enforced. Firearms in this category must have been lawfully possessed in Massachusetts, registered, and serialized on or before that date.
- Any ASF that is a copy or duplicate of one of the enumerated firearms, will not be considered a copy or duplicate if it was lawfully possessed in Massachusetts, registered and serialized prior to July 20, 2016, and has less than two “features.” (These were commonly called “Mass Compliant.”)
- Possession of any firearms on the enumerated list, or copies and duplicates thereof, that were acquired on, or after, July 20, 2016 (the day of the AG’s press conference) are banned.
- Possession of any ASF that could be deemed a copy or duplicate of one of the enumerated firearms is banned.
- Any previously lawfully possessed semi-automatic handgun, rifle (centerfire), or shotgun that has been altered by adding parts after acquisition that would make the firearm not compliant with the “features” test, would be illegal to possess.
- Any possessed semi-automatic handgun, rifle (centerfire), or shotgun (not an enumerated firearm or copy or duplicate of them) that has two or more “features” that was not lawfully possessed in Massachusetts, registered, and serialized on or before August 1, 2024, are banned.
