AR-15 Type rifles and Massachusetts

[Red Lagoon 6]

Can someone explain this to me?

I was looking at a website the other day and they said that they would not ship an AR upper to Mass because there is an AWB. They cited the part of the Federal law that Massachusetts adopted that states Colt AR-15 and other similar rifles are banned.

(G.L. c.140 s. 121 – an AW shall include, but not be limited to, any of the weapons, or copies or duplicates of the weapons, of any caliber, known as: (i) Avtomat Kalashnikov (AK) (all models); (ii) Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil; (iii) Beretta Ar70 (SC-70); (iv) Colt AR-15; (v) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR and FNC; (vi) SWD M-10, M-11, M-11/9 and M-12; (vi) Steyr AUG; (vii) INTRATEC TEC-9, TEC-DC9 and TEC-22

Obviously AR's are not banned in MA (I am talking about AWB compliant rifles) as new ones are for sale at any gun shop and you could buy AWB compliant rifles during the ban.

Just curious.

By the way – After building your own AR-15 type rifle, how have people been listing them on FA-10’s?

 

[Mass-diver]

A preban upper on a preban lower is legal. Not sure what company you are dealing with, but an upper is not a firearm.

 

[vellnueve]

Clueless company, no more.

 

[Red Lagoon 6]

That's what I thought. He was selling AWB compliant/post ban uppers and would would be put on a post ban lower (at least that's my future plan).

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

The climate of fear and uncertainty that's been created around the law and threats of enforcement have caused many retailers to approach their potential MA customers with an abundance of caution. Small retailers are not going to be able to easily learn and comply with individual state laws when those laws are confusing and not easily deciphered. More importantly, there's a history of threatened prosecution of out-of-state vendors for perfectly legal practices which greatly exacerbates concerns of complying with MA law. In the end, most retails look at the size of the MA market and make a business decision to just pass on many orders.

 

[KMaurer]

Part of the confusion arises from the fact that terms get used differently in different contexts. Both the old federal AWB and the Massachusetts version explicitly banned the "Colt AR-15" by name. We use the term AR-15 to refer to a broad class of firearms, some made by Colt and the rest by various manufacturers. Essentially none of these would fall under the by name ban, since (1) they're all slightly different from the old "Colt AR-15", and (2) the all have different names, including those made by Colt. As a result, the only things that are banned under this provision of the law are a few LEO-only Colts made after the '94 ban, and similar guns with more than too many evil features (e.g., bayonet lugs, pistol grips, flash suppressors).

The confusion, of course, works exactly as the hoplophobes intended it. Businesses that have enough other things to worry about decide that it's easier to just write off Massachusetts sales rather than pay for the necessary legal advice to determine exactly what the law is (today) or risk their business for the sake of a few sales. The result is guns being effectively banned without the need for any real ban that could be challenged in court.

One solution would be to order the upper and have it sent to a friend in a free (i.e., safe) state, who could then forward it to you. All perfectly legal, since an upper is no different than a socket wrench or voltage tester as far as the law is concerned.

Ken

 

[Red Lagoon 6]

Thanks for the feed back. I agree that the law is confusing.

If someone put a RRA upper on a Delware lower, how should it be listed on a FA-10?

 

[LoginName]

By the manufacturer of the lower (the serial numbered part).

 

[Red Lagoon 6]

What do you put on the FA-10 for model if it is just the lower reciever? Once I have put an upper on a lower do I have to fill out another FA-10 to cover things like barrel length?

 

[vellnueve]

Not this shit again... No FA10 is required for a new, stripped lower. MA does not consider it a rifle until it can fire.