Pre Healey ar 15

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So I have a pre Healey ar15. I bought it after the ban. I have my efa10 showing that but i cannot find the copy of the efa10 showing the previous owner registering it before the "ban".

The state wont release individual serial number records.

How do I go about selling it comfortably? I feel like without knowing the exact date it was registered in MA exposes me to some sort of liability if it is ever used inappropriately in the future. Should I sell it out of state to an ffl?

Thanks
 
contact the previous owner and ask for a copy?
He could get a copy from the state.

It will cost the previous owner $20 (I think), the price of a notary, and postage along with an self addressed envelope for the state to return the information.

Maybe throw the past owner $50 for his troubles to get all that done for you.

It will take about a month for the state to get back to you.

The effort can be the difference between a $1000 rifle sold out of state and a $2500 rifle sold in state.

It's late right now, but there is information on the net how to apply for this data from the state.

Search the Massachusetts Firearm Record Bureau.
You download the form and fill it out. Have it notarized. Send it in with payment and a self addressed stamped envelope.
 
Just follow the law moving forward. You are fine. Stop worrying about this.

Its not your job to prove you owned it before the "edict".

If you moved into MA with legally owned ARs before the edict and dont have paperwork. you own the gun legally and there is no eFA10. Lots of ways to legally own an AR with no paperwork. Stop worrying.
 
A note on general process for applying for records from the state and timing:

I requested my efa10 history this year and can note they take a LONG time to turn it around....almost two months. I submitted a notarized application and gave a check for $20 and it lets you ask for a specific transaction, a list of licenses issued to a citizen or a list of all transactions by that citizen. I asked for the whole list and was provided with transaction numbers and serial numbers but not dates of transfer. Obviously be as specific as possible when listing the transaction you are searching for on the application, here:

https://www.mass.gov/media/2656/download

I did not use a money order, just a personal check, but noticed later that a money order or bank check was specifically asked for. I still got the records but it might have had been quicker if I’d followed that edict from our good commonwealth. I found my record to be accurate but wish I’d kept EFA 10s separated.

For OP, as others mentioned the prior owner would have to go thru this procedure because it’s his transfer that you need not yours and the state doesn’t provide for searches of S/N across multiple owners, as you probably know...I agree he’s in 100 in the clear on his own ownership and a new owner would be too, but in selling the gun the paper copies of all prior FA10s are, as another poster indicated, definitely going to add value...

Good luck.
 
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So long as they have a valid LTC-A you should be fine. That card means they’ve already been vetted by the state as someone competent and capable of owning such a firearm.
This is why expanding background checks in this state is redundant.
 
Remember folks, we want the FA10 data to be wrong. Anything you can do to LEGALLY have your data be wrong is a good thing.

Other than bringing guns into the state when you move here, the best way to LEGALLY ensure the data is wrong is to not ship your gun through a local FFL when selling it out of state. Instead ship directly to the out of state FFL. If you do this, the gun will still be "registered" to you but you will no longer have it.
It will have LAWFULLY been shipped interstate to a FFL who will have then followed the legal process to transfer it to the buyer.
 
Instead ship directly to the out of state FFL. If you do this, the gun will still be "registered" to you but you will no longer have it.
I agree with your previous points.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I could have sworn that you can't "unregister" a firearm that you have?? I don't think it matters if you use a dealer or not, it will always be registered to you?
 
So Len - If I use a local dealer to transfer a firearm. Even with their processes, the gun would still be associated with both me and the buyer??

Or if a face to face is done with an eFA10. That firearm is now associated with both me and the buyer?

So here's a subtlety. If the cops query the gun, it will show eeryone who has it associated with them. It will also show date of acquisition. From that data, they could tell a chain of custody.

If you ship to an out of state FFL, then the chain ends with you. At least as their computerized records are concerned. So its still good in a way.

Either way, I look forward to your response.
 
So Len - If I use a local dealer to transfer a firearm. Even with their processes, the gun would still be associated with both me and the buyer??

Or if a face to face is done with an eFA10. That firearm is now associated with both me and the buyer?

So here's a subtlety. If the cops query the gun, it will show eeryone who has it associated with them. It will also show date of acquisition. From that data, they could tell a chain of custody.

If you ship to an out of state FFL, then the chain ends with you. At least as their computerized records are concerned. So its still good in a way.

Either way, I look forward to your response.
Guns are associated with every person that has an FA-10 on that gun, forever. That is the way FRB "wants it" per the Director in a phone conversation a few years ago. I don't understand it either!!!

The PD gets a list of S/Ns when querying a name/LTC. Then they have to dig down to find out brand and model #. It isn't a sensible database, you have to see it to believe it. I'm unsure if they query on the gun itself. I would assume that it shows each and every person in MA who FA-10'd it. I've never asked about that search angle.
 
So Len - If I use a local dealer to transfer a firearm. Even with their processes, the gun would still be associated with both me and the buyer??

Or if a face to face is done with an eFA10. That firearm is now associated with both me and the buyer?

So here's a subtlety. If the cops query the gun, it will show eeryone who has it associated with them. It will also show date of acquisition. From that data, they could tell a chain of custody.

If you ship to an out of state FFL, then the chain ends with you. At least as their computerized records are concerned. So its still good in a way.

Either way, I look forward to your response.

Yes, it's basically a chain of custody record. And yes, in my limited personal experience, it's a very easy database to make mistakes with.

Out of state FFL - that's right, the FA-10 records stop with you. I have never transferred a firearm without a receipt from a MA FFL so that if there's a question, at least I can provide a written receipt that shows the date of transfer and the MA FFL whose bound book will show the transfer from me to that dealer. Extra cost and hassle, yes, but I want the paper trail showing that I no longer own the gun.
 
In both cases it may end with you. Get a receipt and it is all good.

Even better, have the dealer eFA-10 it from you to them, or do it yourself when you get home. You just need their MA dealer license number which would be on any FA-10 you got from them when you bought a gun there. But if you ask, they should do the eFA-10 since you're paying them for the service.
 
Even better, have the dealer eFA-10 it from you to them, or do it yourself when you get home. You just need their MA dealer license number which would be on any FA-10 you got from them when you bought a gun there. But if you ask, they should do the eFA-10 since you're paying them for the service.
I would never bother to do that. Just a receipt is fine.
 
I would never bother to do that. Just a receipt is fine.

IMO its better to show it leaving your hands in the FA10 system than trying to find a paper receipt from an FFL sometime in the future if they come knockin' after something bad happens with that gun and the trail ended with you.
 
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