Opinion ID: 199885
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Licensing of Large Capacity Weapons

Text: 4 Owners of firearms in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have long needed to license these weapons. See 1906 Mass. Acts 172 (requiring license for carrying loaded pistol). Before the Act went into effect, a two-tiered licensing system prevailed, based on the categories of (1) rifles and shotguns and (2) firearms, including pistols, revolvers, and other guns with short barrels. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121 (1997). A citizen with a license could possess all these weapons, while a citizen with a Firearms Identification Card (FID Card) could only possess rifles and shotguns. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, §§ 121, 129C, 131 et seq. (1997). 5 The Act created a three-tiered licensing system by devising a new classification for large capacity weapons. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121. A Class A license entitles its possessor to own any type of weapon, including a large capacity weapon. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131(a). A person with a Class B license can possess only weapons, be they rifles, shotguns, or firearms, that are not large capacity weapons. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131(b). A person with an FID Card has the same rights as someone with a Class B license except that he or she cannot carry firearms. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 129C. Again, firearms are pistols, revolvers, and guns with short barrels. Id. The Act defines a large capacity weapon as any firearm, rifle or shotgun: 6 (i) that is semiautomatic with a fixed large capacity feeding device; (ii) that is semiautomatic and capable of accepting, or readily modifiable to accept, any detachable large capacity feeding device; (iii) that employs a rotating cylinder capable of accepting more than ten rounds of ammunition in a rifle or firearm and more than five shotgun shells in the case of a shotgun or firearm; or (iv) that is an assault weapon. 7 Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121. A large capacity feeding device is: 8 (i) a fixed or detachable magazine, box, drum, feed strip or similar device capable of accepting, or that can be readily converted to accept, more than ten rounds of ammunition or more than five shotgun shells; or (ii) a large capacity ammunition feeding device as defined in the federal Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(31). 9 Id. The statute also excludes certain weapons from the definition of large capacity weapons: 10 The term large capacity weapon shall be a secondary designation and shall apply to a weapon in addition to its primary designation as a firearm, rifle or shotgun and shall not include: (i) any weapon that was manufactured in or prior to the year 1899; (ii) any weapon that operates by manual bolt, pump, lever or slide action; (iii) any weapon that is a single-shot weapon; (iv) any weapon that has been modified so as to render it permanently inoperable or otherwise rendered permanently unable to be designated a large capacity weapon; or (v) any weapon that is an antique or relic, theatrical prop or other weapon that is not capable of firing a projectile and which is not intended for use as a functional weapon and cannot be readily modified through a combination of available parts into an operable large capacity weapon. 11 Id.