Massachusetts law regarding transfer of Firearms

Joined
Mar 1, 2011
Messages
7
Likes
0
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
Hi everyone I'm fairly new here as I just got my LTC. My question is regarding a pistol purchased in approx 1987 by a family member.

An extended family member who has had an LTC since the 1980's purchased a revolver in approx. 1987. Well the story goes that when he moved to he west coast in the early 90's from his parents home he just left it behind. His dad never sent it to him & it got locked up & forgotten for almost 20 years until this week when I mentioned researching pistols. I spoke to the orignal owner & he says it was never registered & that it was not fired often. What do I need to do in order to take ownership of it? Or am I better just forgetting about it & not dealing with the hassle.

Thanks
 
If you're in MA and:
a) The current owner of the pistol lives in and is licensed in MA and hasn't done 4 Face-to-Face transfers yet this year, do a face-to-face sale on FA-10.
b) The current owner is unlicensed but in MA, bring the pistol and the owner to an FFL, pay a fee, and do some paperwork.
c) The current owner is not in MA, my understanding is that you'd need to have the pistol get to him, then have his FFL transfer the pistol to your FFL of choice, then do paperwork.

Pretty sure that's it, but many people will be along shortly to correct me if needed.
IANAL
 
Last edited:
Not quite that complicated, since the gun is already here. While some dealers might be justifiable confused and/or uncomfortable, all that would be required would be for the owner to send a bill-of-sale, identifying the gun by make/model/serial #, take the gun and bill-of-sale to the dealer, and let him do the formal transfer. The smart approach would be to discuss all this with the dealer beforehand and get him to agree, with whatever additional details he might want (e.g., notarized bill-of-sale).

Ken
 
Not quite that complicated, since the gun is already here. While some dealers might be justifiable confused and/or uncomfortable, all that would be required would be for the owner to send a bill-of-sale, identifying the gun by make/model/serial #, take the gun and bill-of-sale to the dealer, and let him do the formal transfer. The smart approach would be to discuss all this with the dealer beforehand and get him to agree, with whatever additional details he might want (e.g., notarized bill-of-sale).

Ken
I discussed it with a dealer this afternoon. I was told his father is considered the owner. I need to bring him & the handgun to the dealer & fill out some paperwork for $25 & that is it. Much easier than I thought it was going to be.
Thanks
 
Hi everyone I'm fairly new here as I just got my LTC. My question is regarding a pistol purchased in approx 1987 by a family member.

An extended family member who has had an LTC since the 1980's purchased a revolver in approx. 1987. Well the story goes that when he moved to he west coast in the early 90's from his parents home he just left it behind. His dad never sent it to him & it got locked up & forgotten for almost 20 years until this week when I mentioned researching pistols. I spoke to the orignal owner & he says it was never registered & that it was not fired often. What do I need to do in order to take ownership of it? Or am I better just forgetting about it & not dealing with the hassle.

Thanks

I have a similar situation. Judging what was already discussed in this thread please correct these statements if I'm wrong. If the owner of the gun is going to be in the state, he can sell me his gun through a dealer using his FFL even if the owner of the gun no longer has a valid LTC in MA. {Deep Breath} And this transaction cannot be completed face-to-face using the FA-10 because of the fact that he moved out of state and no longer has a valid LTC. The gun never left MA and was never registered in his current state.
 
I have a similar situation. Judging what was already discussed in this thread please correct these statements if I'm wrong. If the owner of the gun is going to be in the state, he can sell me his gun through a dealer using his FFL even if the owner of the gun no longer has a valid LTC in MA. {Deep Breath} And this transaction cannot be completed face-to-face using the FA-10 because of the fact that he moved out of state and no longer has a valid LTC. The gun never left MA and was never registered in his current state.

Basically yes. Make sure the dealer will complete the transaction, and have a licensed individual maintain possession of the gun until the FFL takes it.
 
I discussed it with a dealer this afternoon. I was told his father is considered the owner. I need to bring him & the handgun to the dealer & fill out some paperwork for $25 & that is it. Much easier than I thought it was going to be.
Thanks

I was going to say something on that lines.

Seeing that the person that bought it is out west now and it sounds like there isn't a paper trail. Just say that the father (owners father as you said) is the owner seeing that he is in MASS and the real owner (keep that quiet) isn't here. Heck if it's been in the fathers house that long wouldn't he be the real owner now anyway ??? I'll leave that to the guys/gals here that know the laws.

But it sounds like you are all set, if the gun shop owner said bring it to him, get there with the father, do it today, and walk out with a smile.

Enjoy and welcome to NES [thumbsup]
 
Last edited:
Im shocked who ever you did your safety course with did not mention NRA, GOAL , comm2 or any of the other pro gun stuff ?
 
The BFS requirements are that a MSP Certified BFS Instructor EITHER teach some of the law OR hand the person some printouts of the law and call it a day.

MSP is certainly NOT GOAL, NRA or Comm2A "friendly" and thus would never suggest that anyone become affiliated with groups that might stomp on the MSP's (EOPS) policies.

The quality of legal instruction by BFS Instructors ranges from OK to totally bogus, with more (that I've seen/heard/heard about) towards the bogus side . . . that's why I created the law seminar noted in my sig-line, to educate gun owners properly on MGL.
 
I got my cert at sig sauer acacdemy in NH and the instructor stressed us to join the NRA and he even mentioned GOAL for the mass folks in the class
 
Back
Top Bottom