The MA "Assault Weapons" Ban Explained

Editorial Comments

I don't like the term "Assault Weapon". It was coined by anti-gun politicians in the 1990's in order to demonize a class of rifles better described as "modern sporting rifles". These are civilian versions of military rifles such as the AR-15 (the civilian version of the M-16). The talking points at the time included, "They can't be used for hunting", and, "Their only pupose is to kill". Well, I have a freezer full of meat that contradicts the first statement and have won enough shooting competitions with an AR-15 to disprove the latter.

The AR-15 is lightweight, accurate, and reliable. So much so that its cousin the M-16/M4 has been the longest serving rifle in US military history (61 years and counting). It's the ultimate home defense firearm.

Anything - a gun, a knife, a stick, a dildo (Google it - another Florida Man story) - that's used as a weapon to assault someone is an assault weapon.

End rant.

Background - Federal and State Laws

The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) was a federal law which prohibited the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms that were defined as assault weapons, as well as magazines that were defined as "large capacity".

Firearms and magazines made before September 13, 1994 (the day the law went into effect) were exempt from the law. The grandfathered items are commonly know as "pre-ban" firearms/magazines. The federal law expired in 2004. In 1998, the Massachusetts legislature voted to keep the assault weapons ban in effect permanently in Massachusetts.

The law applies only to certain semi-automatic firearms, and has different rules for rifles, pistols, and shotguns. The following items are considered assault weapons in Massachusetts:

Semi-automatic rifles manufactured after 9/13/1994 with detachable magazines and two or more of the following features:

Folding or telescoping stock
Pistol grip
Bayonet mount
Flash hider or threaded barrel designed to accommodate one
Grenade launcher

Semi-automatic pistols manufactured after 9/13/1994 with detachable magazines and two or more of the following:

Magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip
Threaded barrel to attach barrel extender, flash suppressor, handgrip, or suppressor
Barrel shroud safety feature that prevents burns to the operator
Unloaded weight of 50 oz (1.4 kg) or more
A semi-automatic version of a fully automatic firearm

Semi-automatic shotguns with two or more of the following features:

Folding or telescoping stock
Pistol grip
Detachable magazine

The AWB also banned "high capacity" magazines. High capacity is defined as follows:

Rifle magazines made after 9/13/1994 that hold more than ten rounds
Pistol magazines made after 9/13/1994 that hold more than ten rounds
Shotgun magazines made after 9/13/1994 that hold more than five rounds

The law also categorically banned a list of specific makes and models of semi-automatic firearms and any copies or duplicates of them, in any caliber.

A post-ban AR-15 rifle with non-compliant features and magazine. This rifle is illegal to possess in MA.

The banned features are mostly cosmetic. The rifle pictured above can be made ban-compliant by replacing the flash hider with a similar device called a muzzle brake (and pinning and welding it in place), grinding off the bayonet lug, pinning the stock so it won't fold or collapse (or replacing it with a fixed stock), and replacing the 30 round magazine with a 10-round version. This work needs to be done when someone moves to MA and brings in a rifle that came from a state where the ban is not in effect.

The Infamous 7/20/2016 Enforcement Notice

On July 20, 2016 the office of the MA attorney general released an enforcement notice declaring that the ban-compliant rifles sold in MA since 1994 were now "copycat" weapons, and in violation of the AWB. Since that date, dealers have been prohibited from transferring these rifles to LTC holders, but private sales are still allowed.

The table below shows which assault weapons can be transferred, and how.

Whether (and how) an assault weapon can be transferred depends on when it was made.

I hope you found this post informative. If you have any questions as to the legality of ANY firearm, don't hesitate to contact me here (I'm a federally licensed firearm manufacturer and self-proclaimed firearms law expert), or message me on Facebook (Jim Finnerty).