2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases › Title I - Crimes and Punishments › Chapter 266 - Crimes Against Property › Section 101 - Definitions Applicable to Secs. 101 to 102d

Section 101. For the purposes of sections 101 to 102D, inclusive, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless otherwise clearly required:—
''Ammunition'', cartridges or cartridge cases, primers (igniter), bullets or propellant powder designed for use in any weapon utilizing a propellant including, but not limited to, ammunition produced by or for the military for national defense and security.
''Biological weapon'', any microorganism, virus, infectious substance or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology, or any naturally occurring or bioengineered component of any such microorganism, virus, infectious substance or biological product, except if intended for a purpose not prohibited under this chapter or chapter 265, specifically prepared in a manner to cause death, disease or other biological malfunction in a human, animal, plant or another living organism, deterioration of food, water, equipment supplies or material of any kind, or deleterious alteration of the environment.
''Black powder'', a compound or mixture of sulfur, charcoal and an alkali nitrate including, but not limited to, potassium or sodium nitrate.
''Chemical weapon'', (i) a toxic chemical or substance, including the precursors to any toxic chemical or substance; and (ii) ammunition or a device designed to cause death or bodily harm by means of the release of a toxic chemical or substance.
''Delivery system'', any equipment designed or adapted for use in connection with the deployment of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
''Denial of access'', contamination to an area, including any structures thereon, which poses a health risk to humans, animals or plants and which precludes the safe use of such area until the contaminant becomes inactive, decays or is removed.
''Destructive or incendiary device or substance'', an explosive, article or device designed or adapted to cause physical harm to persons or property by means of fire, explosion, deflagration or detonation and consisting of substance capable of being ignited, whether or not contrived to ignite or explode automatically.
''Element'', a substance that is made entirely from 1 type of atom.
''Explosive'', any element, compound or mixture that is manufactured, designed or used to produce an explosion and that contains an oxidizer, fuel or other ingredient, in such proportion, quantity or packing that an ignition by fire, friction, concussion, percussion or detonation of the element or of any part of the compound or mixture may cause such a sudden generation of highly heated gases that the resultant gaseous pressures, release of heat or fragmentation is capable of producing destructive effects on contiguous objects or of destroying life or causing bodily harm including, but not limited to, all material which is classified as division 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 or 1.6 explosives by the United States Department of Transportation or listed pursuant to 18 USC 841(d) and 27 CFR 555.23. Explosive shall not include a pyrotechnic, small arms ammunition, small arms ammunition primers, smokeless powder weighing less than 50 pounds and black powder weighing less than 5 pounds, unless possessed or used for an illegal purpose.
''Hoax explosive'', ''hoax destructive or incendiary device or substance'' or ''hoax chemical, biological or nuclear weapon'', any device, article or substance that would cause a person to reasonably believe that such device, article or substance is: (i) an explosive; (ii) a destructive or incendiary device or substance; or (iii) a chemical, biological or nuclear weapon, harmful radioactive substance or poison capable of causing bodily injury which is actually an inoperable facsimile.
''Nuclear weapon'', a device designed for the purpose of causing bodily injury, death or denial of access through the release of radiation or radiological material either by propagation of nuclear fission or by means of any other energy source.
''Oxidizer'', a substance that yields oxygen readily to stimulate the combustion of organic matter or other fuel.
''Pyrotechnic'', any commercially manufactured combustible or explosive composition or manufactured article designed and prepared for the purpose of producing an audible effect or a visible display and regulated by chapter 148 including, but not limited to: (i) fireworks, firecrackers; (ii) flares, fuses and torpedoes, so-called, and similar signaling devices.
''Small arms ammunition'', any shotgun, rifle, pistol, or revolver cartridge, and cartridges for propellant-actuated power devices and industrial guns.
''Smokeless powder'', a rapid-burning solid material containing nitrocellulose used as a propellant.