Hogue Freedom Fighter MA Legal?

[Nico9283]

I’ve posted this in the legal forum as well, but posting here to get a little more exposure to the question. Mods please delete this if that’s not allowed to post it in two places…

Getting ready to build my first AR pistol, but it will be the second one I’ve owned. The First one I bought already came with a fixed-mag mechanism installed.

This one is going to be a higher quality build and is going to cost some coin for the parts I want to use, so I want to make sure that whatever I use to affix the magazine in place can be reversible in the future if I move out of state or choose to use this lower for a rifle-build. The Hogue Freedom Fighter caught my attention as it’s the most elegant solution (in my opinion) and would only require me to unscrew the set screw holing the detent pin and spring to be reversed. The fact that the upper has to be opened to do so, and also to release the magazine, would put the pistol in a state of not being a firearm since the receivers aren’t connected to either of those tasks, so would that meet the requirements of a fixed magazine?

 

[steve8140]

Some people will say “the receiver must be built by the manufacturer as a fixed magazine assembly and others are not necessarily legal and have not been tested in court.”

Some other people say “who gives a crap how it’s done as long as it’s fixed mag”.

Then another group of people say “who gives a crap, the AG doesn’t have the power to write or change the law and you should go by the actual written MGL and follow the long standing assault weapon ban”.

Only you can choose which group you fit into.

 

[hillman]

Some people will say “the receiver must be built by the manufacturer as a fixed magazine assembly and others are not necessarily legal and have not been tested in court.”

Is that in writing, in any of the law...I mean "guidance" crap?

 

[steve8140]

Not in any official capacity that I’ve seen. The manufacturer “Joe” of JC Arms has posted here as well as on Facebook and what I’ve gotten from his posts is that it is his position and to give him credit he did go to court to defend his fixed mag lower and won.
The only part actually written into law, or worded in law is the assault weapon ban clearly spells out that the firearm must be semi-automatic and have a “detachable magazine” plus a number of features.

So by that description, by having a fixed magazine eliminated the possibility of being an “assault weapon”.

That being said, and this is just my opinion as someone in NH now and doesn’t need to deal with this crap anymore.

To my knowledge no other similar product has been tested in court to see the outcome. JC Arms filled a role in a great way that was missing and allowed a whole new breed of firearms that were otherwise rare or verboten in MA, the AR pistol.

But I also believe part of his stance is also to sell his product.

 

[Nico9283]

Some people will say “the receiver must be built by the manufacturer as a fixed magazine assembly and others are not necessarily legal and have not been tested in court.”

Some other people say “who gives a crap how it’s done as long as it’s fixed mag”.

Then another group of people say “who gives a crap, the AG doesn’t have the power to write or change the law and you should go by the actual written MGL and follow the long standing assault weapon ban”.

Only you can choose which group you fit into.

I fit it into the 3rd group. I’m aware I can be brought to court for anything but I’m willing to pay a lawyer to stand my ground if I’m unlawfully charged with having a weapon that isn’t banned.

That said, i guess I’ve answered my own question in that any of these fixed Mag items meet the requirements specifically to the letter of the law.
As long as the mag I’m fixing in place can’t hold more than 10 rounds, it would seem I’m good to go

 

[joe1231913]

Not in any official capacity that I’ve seen. The manufacturer “Joe” of JC Arms has posted here as well as on Facebook and what I’ve gotten from his posts is that it is his position and to give him credit he did go to court to defend his fixed mag lower and won.
The only part actually written into law, or worded in law is the assault weapon ban clearly spells out that the firearm must be semi-automatic and have a “detachable magazine” plus a number of features.

So by that description, by having a fixed magazine eliminated the possibility of being an “assault weapon”.

That being said, and this is just my opinion as someone in NH now and doesn’t need to deal with this crap anymore.

To my knowledge no other similar product has been tested in court to see the outcome. JC Arms filled a role in a great way that was missing and allowed a whole new breed of firearms that were otherwise rare or verboten in MA, the AR pistol.

But I also believe part of his stance is also to sell his product.

In response to "But I also believe part of his stance is also to sell his product"
I do love selling my product, absolutely. I also own Outer Limits Pro Shop in Holbrook, and fixed mag sales make up only 5-7% of my overall sales. My decision to defend my customer in court was based on two things.....

1. I sold him a product that I marketed as legal and didn't want him on the hook either financially or otherwise.
2. I had a lot on the line. If it was found unfavorable, I was on the hook for about 300 of those things I already sold. 300 counts of an AWB sales violations would have cot me my career and livelihood as a police officer.

During the court case, I had to submit testimony about a number of things. One of which included the specific way I machine my lowers and fix my magazine. The enforcement notice DID come up in my case, so it was worth mentioning the method in which I machine my lowers and the order in which the machining operations happen. The enforcement notice speaks about "originally manufactured" so it may have played a role in the judges decision. I can also tell you that the motion my attorney wrote, he specifically wrote it to be unique to JC Arms. Not only did I go to court for testimony, but I paid the attorney fees for my customer and additionally, I gave my attorney a preban Colt rifle as a thank you present for his aggressive and successful representation. The only downside to that case was that my customer was convicted of improper storage of a firearm, even though the firearm was disassembled. He is currently appealing his conviction.

On a separate note, what the AG did (inadvertently) when she wrote her reinterpretation...she created a loophole that allows AR style pistols, albeit in a fixed magazine capacity, that never had a market before in Massachusetts. For guys like Coyote hunters, this was huge. This allows night time hunting of coyotes with 5.56, 300BLK, and other traditional "rifle" rounds all because these calibers are smaller than the .38 caliber limitation during nigh time hunting.