Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 140 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 129D, as appearing in the 1984 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 129D. Upon revocation, suspension or denial of an application for a firearm identification card pursuant to the conditions of section one hundred and twenty-nine B, or of any firearms license if said firearms identification card is not then in force or of any machine gun license, the person whose application was so revoked, suspended or denied shall without delay deliver or surrender, to the licensing authority where he resides, all firearms, rifles, shotguns and machine guns and ammunition which he then possesses unless an appeal is pending. Such person, or his legal representative, shall have the right, at any time up to one year after said delivery or surrender, to transfer such firearms, rifles, shotguns and machine guns and ammunition to any licensed dealer or any other person legally permitted to purchase or take possession of such firearms, rifles, shotguns and machine guns and ammunition and upon notification in writing by the purchaser or transferee and the former owner, the licensing authority shall within ten days deliver such firearms, rifles, shotguns and machine guns and ammunition to the transferee or purchaser and due care shall be observed by the licensing authority in the receipt and holding of any such firearm, rifle, shotgun or machine gun and ammunition.

Firearms, rifles, shotguns or machine guns and ammunition not disposed of after delivery or surrender according to the provisions of this section shall be sold at public auction by the commissioner to the highest bidding person legally permitted to purchase and possess said firearms, rifles, shotguns or machine guns and ammunition and the proceeds shall be remitted to the state treasurer.

The commissioner may make and promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.

SECTION 2. Said chapter 140 of the General Laws is hereby further amended by striking out section 131, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 131. The chief of police or the board or officer having control of the police in a city or town, or the commissioner of public safety, hereinafter referred to as the commissioner, or persons authorized by them, respectively, shall upon request from a person residing or having a place of business within their respective jurisdiction, give an application for a license to carry firearms to such person. Said chief, board, officer or anyone authorized by them, respectively, shall within seven days of receipt of a completed application for such license, forward one copy of said applicant's fingerprints to said commissioner, who shall, within thirty days, advise, in writing, the licensing authority of the criminal record, if any, of the applicant. The licensing authority shall, when it has a reasonable belief that the applicant may have a history of mental, psychiatric or psychological illness which may affect his suitability to carry or possess a firearm, also make an inquiry concerning the applicant to the department of mental health within seven days of receipt of a completed application for such license. The commissioner of the department of mental health shall respond to a licensing authority within thirty days of receipt of an inquiry stating that based upon the information held by the department of mental health that the applicant is a suitable person to be licensed to possess or carry a firearm or is not a suitable person to be licensed to possess a firearm license.

After such investigation has been completed, said chief, board, officer, commissioner of public safety, or anyone authorized by them, respectively, may, except for an alien whose license to carry firearms may only be issued under the provisions of section one hundred and thirty-one F, a person who has been convicted of a felony or the unlawful use, possession or sale of a narcotic or harmful drugs, or a minor under the age of eighteen, issue to a person residing or having a place of business within their respective jurisdiction, a license to carry firearms in the commonwealth if it appears that the applicant is a suitable person to be so licensed, and that the applicant has good reason to fear injury to his or her person or property, or for any other proper purpose, including the carrying of firearms for use in target practice only.

An application for a license under this section shall be designed and provided by the commissioner of public safety to all licensing authorities within the commonwealth. Said application shall be on a standard form.

An applicant for a license or a renewal of a license under this section shall be notified by the licensing authority, in writing, within forty days of submitting said application, of either approval or denial and in the case of denial, such notice shall state the reasons thereof.

Any person denied a license or a renewal of a license under this section, or any person who has not received a reply from the licensing authority within forty days of submitting said application, may, within either forty-five days of receiving notification of denial or within forty-five days after the expiration of the time limit in which the licensing authority is required to respond to the applicant, file a petition to obtain judicial review in the district court having jurisdiction in the city or town wherein the applicant filed for said license; and a justice of said court, after, having heard all of the facts, may direct that a license be issued the applicant, if he finds that there was no reasonable ground for refusing such license and that the applicant was not prohibited by law from holding the same.

Any person who files an application with any intentional false answer to the questions on the application shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars and by imprisonment for not less than six months nor more than two years in a jail or house of correction.

The commissioner of public safety is hereby directed to furnish license forms to all licensing authorities that shall contain blank spaces for such information as he deems necessary for proper identification of the licensee.

A license issued to carry a firearm shall be for a period of five years, expiring on the anniversary of the applicant's date of birth occurring not less than four years but not more than five years from the date of issue. Any renewal thereof shall expire on the anniversary of the applicant's date of birth occurring not less than four years but not more than five years after the effective date of such license. Any license issued to an applicant born on February twenty-ninth, for the purpose of this section, shall expire on March first.

For the purposes of the provisions of section ten of chapter two hundred and sixty-nine, an expired license to carry firearms shall be deemed to be valid for a period not to exceed ninety days beyond the date of expiration, except that this provision shall not apply to any such license to carry firearms which has been revoked or relative to which revocation is pending. The fee for such license or a renewal of a license shall be ten dollars, and shall be payable in a manner prescribed by the licensing authority or commissioner of public safety and shall not be prorated or refunded in case of revocation. Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, no license shall be required for the possession or carrying of a firearm known as a detonator and commonly used on motor vehicles as a signaling and marking device, when carried or possessed for such signaling and marking purposes. Whoever, knowingly, issues a license in violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more one thousand dollars and by imprisonment for not less than six months nor more than two years in a jail or house of correction. The commissioner of public safety shall send by first class mail to the holder of each such license to carry firearms, a notice of the expiration of his or her license not less than ninety days prior to such expiration, and shall enclose therein a form for renewal of said license. The taking of fingerprints shall not be required in issuing the renewal of a license if the renewal applicant's fingerprints are on file with the commissioner of public safety. Any license holder shall notify, in writing, the authority who issued said license, the chief of police into whose jurisdiction the license holder moves, and the commissioner of public safety of any change in his or her addresses. Such notification shall be made by certified mail within thirty days of its occurrence. Failure to so notify shall be cause for revocation of said license. All such licenses to carry firearms shall be revocable for cause at the will of the authority issuing the same, who shall forthwith send written notice stating the reason that said license is being revoked by hand or any other means necessary to effectuate notification to the licensee and commissioner of public safety. Any such revocation shall be carried out in the same manner as provided in section one hundred and twenty-nine D.

Any person whose license is so revoked, may within forty-five days of notification of said revocation, file a petition to obtain judicial review in the district court having jurisdiction in the city or town wherein the applicant held said license, and a justice of said court, after having heard all of the facts, may direct the license be reinstated if he finds that there was no reasonable ground for revoking said license.

No person shall be issued a license to carry or possess a machine gun in the commonwealth, except that a licensing authority may issue a machine gun license to:

(a) a firearm instructor certified by the criminal justice training council for the sole purpose of firearm instruction to police personnel;

(b) a bona fide collector of firearms upon application or upon application for renewal of such license.

The commissioner of the department of public safety shall promulgate regulations in accordance with chapter thirty A of the General Laws to establish criteria for persons who shall be classified as bona fide collectors of firearms.

SECTION 3. Section 10 of chapter 269 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1984 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subparagraph (i) and inserting in place thereof the following subparagraph:-

(i) Whoever knowingly fails to deliver or surrender a revoked or suspended license to carry or possess firearms or machine guns issued under the provisions of section one hundred and thirty-one or one hundred and thirty-one F of chapter one hundred and forty, or firearm identification card, or receipt for the fee for such card, or a firearm, rifle, shotgun or machine gun, as provided in section one hundred and twenty-nine D of chapter one hundred and forty, unless an appeal is pending, shall be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than two and one-half years or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars.

SECTION 4. Nothing contained in this act shall affect the validity, terms or conditions of a machine gun license issued prior to the effective date of this act, provided, however, that any application for renewal of such license shall be subject to the provisions of this act. Said application for renewal of such license shall be subject to the provisions of this act only after adoption of the regulations promulgated by the department of public safety as authorized in section two.