More coup attempts it seems
Gun Owners' Action League has received copies of a notice sent to Massachusetts licensed firearm retailers from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security - Firearms Record Bureau.
The notice from the agency is unsigned and not dated and contains supposed information regarding the sale of "Assault Weapons" and "Large Capacity Feeding Devices."
This letter states the following incorrectly;
A weapon or large capacity feeding device defined in G.L. c. 140 s121, or a weapon having the characteristics outlined in 18 U.S.C. s921 (a) (3), may not be possessed, sold or transferred in the Commonwealth if the weapon was not lawfully possessed under a Massachusetts firearms license on September 13, 1994
(bold added by GOAL to note error)
(Also note that they refer to s121 which is incorrect, 123 Sixteenth is the applicable law.)
This is the law as it appears on the MA website;
Chapter 140, 123 Sixteenth, That no licensee shall sell, lease, rent, transfer or deliver or offer for sale, lease, rent, transfer or delivery to any person any assault weapon or large capacity feeding device that was not otherwise lawfully possessed on September 13, 1994.
Chapter 140, Section 131M. No person shall sell, offer for sale, transfer or possess an assault weapon or a large capacity feeding device that was not otherwise lawfully possessed on September 13, 1994. Whoever not being licensed under the provisions of section 122 violates the provisions of this section shall be punished, for a first offense, by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than ten years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and for a second offense, by a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $15,000 or by imprisonment for not less than five years nor more than 15 years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to: (i) the possession by a law enforcement officer for purposes of law enforcement; or (ii) the possession by an individual who is retired from service with a law enforcement agency and is not otherwise prohibited from receiving such a weapon or feeding device from such agency upon retirement.
GOAL does not believe this statement to be factually correct. Nowhere in either law does it state "under a Massachusetts firearms license." Further, Clause Sixteenth does not represent a complete ban as mentioned in the notice.
GOAL is currently trying to get an answer from the Executive Office of Public Safety as to why they are putting out false information to licensed retailers. If you have received such a notice, please forward a copy of it to GOAL at 37 Pierce Street, Northborough MA 01532.