How can you tell an MA-legal hi-cap Mag

[Joe G]

I am confused about how to comply with the MA hi-cap mag law. Obviously the mags that have been stunted to 10 rounds pass muster. But seeing as most mags are unmarked, or marked with limited info like the make/model or manufacturer, how can anybody tell whether they're MA legal?

It is especially confusing to me WRT mil surplus mags for AKs and ARs. There are so many out there.

I'd hate to buy something out of state and wind up in the slammer. But it seems the only definite no-no's are hi-cap mags that are for new model guns that were developed since the ban.

 

[vellnueve]

You can't unless you know the specific differences that manufacturers put into their mags over the years. For example, I can prove my Sigma mags are preban due to their capacity, fit, and lack of LE markings.

 

[drgrant]

The old standard according to federal law was that lack of the crime bill
markings was enough to reinforce your assertion that a magazine was pre
ban. It used to be "If no markings, owner insists it is preban, then mag =
preban" .

The problem is, in MA, despite the mirroring of old federal law, they may
not use that as a similar standard of proof. It could be a lot worse than
that. The court may require that the posessor of said magazine needs to
reinforce his assertion that the magazine is not illegal, by some
means.

A further problem is that there isnt any case law, that I know of, pretaining
specifically to this issue. So nobody really knows how far things would get
pushed. This is true even at the federal level, during the ban
era.

The other problem w/no case law is nobody knows what the "standard" of
evidence would be for a successfull MA AWB prosecution. (if someone
reading this has applicable case law, please post it... I havent seen any
yet.). So it's basically a WAG as to what the state would do in such
a prosecution.

Depending on who you talk to, there are two camps....

Theres the camp that errs on the side of caution, saying that one should
only buy magazines that they are 110% sure of being preban.

Then theres the camp that says "no chance in hell of you
getting prosecuted- if the mags aren't marked they can't prove it,
period."

I'm not so sure if I agree with the latter... because all it takes is one
overzealous prosecutor going the extra mile just to nail someone. Will
the charge stick? Maybe not. Even if it was brought up I don't see
a jury buying it. Problem is, even if you "win" the state/court can still
make your life a living hell and expend much of your money in the process
of you trying to defend yourself from some lame AWB charge.


-Mike

 

[vellnueve]

Not to mention your LTC would be gone

 

[Len-2A Training]

Joe, do an Advanced Search in the Gun Laws forum and set your User CP to show "ALL THREADS".

Lots of info there on this topic.

Regrettably, in many cases the user won't know. BUT anyone (DA) that wants to spend the money to investigate may be able to prove that the plastics used, mold used, metals used, etc. couldn't be pre-ban.

 

[drgrant]

Not to mention your LTC would be gone

Well, that assumes that you're acquitted, and then you have to
deal with "unsuitable person" business, which may or may not
happen.

It's a safe guess though, that if you're carted in on a charge over a
magazine, that you have bigger problems than wether or not the chief
is going to be a problem after the fact. A felony conviction means
no gun ownership, whereas if you get acquitted and the chief is a douche,
at least you can flee to another state and still perhaps own guns.

-Mike