Clarification on AWB evil features

[waltherlover]

I'm thinking of getting a Saiga-12. The one I'm looking at has no pistol grip, but it does have a removable magazine. My question is this - I know there's a certain number of "evil" features you can put on the gun, and I was wondering what is considered an evil feature, and how many you can have legally.

I'm sure this has been covered before, but I had trouble locating it.

Also - I'm assuming I'm limited to the 10 round magazine for this bad boy?

Thanks.

 

[Kevlar]

Here ya go...

M.G.L. c.140 s.121

“Assault weapon”, shall have the same meaning as a semiautomatic assault weapon as defined in the federal Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. section 921(a)(30) as appearing in such section on September 13, 1994,...

18 U.S.C. 921(a)(30)

(30) The term "semiautomatic assault weapon" means -

>snip<

(D) a semiautomatic shotgun that has at least 2 of -

(i) a folding or telescoping stock;

(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the

action of the weapon;

(iii) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 5 rounds; and

(iv) an ability to accept a detachable magazine.

 

[drgrant]

I'm thinking of getting a Saiga-12. The one I'm looking at has no pistol grip, but it does have a removable magazine. My question is this - I know there's a certain number of "evil" features you can put on the gun, and I was wondering what is considered an evil feature, and how many you can have legally.

I'm sure this has been covered before, but I had trouble locating it.

Also - I'm assuming I'm limited to the 10 round magazine for this bad boy?

Thanks.

For shotguns its 5 not 10. You're pretty much more or less screwed and glued to the stock config on a Saiga in MA. Nearly anything you do to it will drive it over the limit for MA. Eg, no pistol grip, etc...

-Mike

 

[waltherlover]

Things like muzzle brakes, chokes <even evil breaching chokes> etc don't count, right?

 

[glostamon]

Things like muzzle brakes, chokes <even evil breaching chokes> etc don't count, right?

Saiga muzzle brakes are acceptable in MA. as long as its permently attached.
Be certain its a bonified "Muzzle brake" not a flash hider a supressor.

 

[atmay]

Saiga muzzle brakes are acceptable in MA. as long as its permently attached.
Be certain its a bonified "Muzzle brake" not a flash hider a supressor.

Flash hiders and threaded barrels are NOT an "evil feature" on shotguns. Many Saiga shotguns have threaded barrels, you can put anything you want (other than a can) on it.

 

[OldOwl]

I read somewhere that if you attach the mag in a way that requires the use of a "tool" to remove it, it's no longer counts as a removable mag. I don't know if that's true, but worth looking into as a loophole. The thumb hole stock is an option I'll go with if I ever bring mine into this state. After over half a century on this planet, I finally understand what the term "Laws are meant to be broken" means. Finding a legal way around them. I tricked out my 870 and thought it was the baddest shotgun in the land... til I shot the Saiga. I swear... its the best thing since Viagra!

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

You're thinking about the bullet button. It's used in California to make a magazine 'permanent'. This has been a clever way around the AWB in California and the courts there have determined that with the BB installed, the magazine is not detachable and therefor the rifle doesn't meet the definition of 'Assault Weapon".

To the best of my knowledge, no one has installed it in MA, and because we have so few AWB prosecution, there's no way to tell how the courts might rule. EOPSS seems to be taking the line "once an assault weapon, always an assault weapon". If the courts bought that line of reasoning then the BB would change nothing here. But we'll never really know that unless cops start snooping around private ranges or stopping people leaving ranges and conducting illegal searches.

 

[atmay]

I'm reasonably certain that the "bullet button" concept is actually codified in CA law as making a magazine non-detachable. The MA AWB contains no such verbiage, and like Knuckle Dragger mentioned, there's little to no case law on any matter pertaining to the MA AWB.

 

[OldOwl]

Meaning? Almost nobody has been prosecuted for infractions?

 

[atmay]

Meaning? Almost nobody has been prosecuted for infractions?

Correct. There have been few court cases pertaining to the AWB in MA, and to the best of my knowledge, none at a high enough level to generate any solid case law.

This means that there's no "official" interpretation of what the law means by detachable magazine for a judge/jury to go by in the event that someone ever gets hooked up on an AWB violation.