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. Section 128A of chapter 140 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1988 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The provisions of section one hundred and twenty-eight shall not apply to any person who, without being licensed as provided in section one hundred and twenty-two, sells or transfers a firearm, rifle or shotgun to a person licensed under said section one hundred and twenty-two, or to a federally licensed firearms dealer or to a federal, state or local historical society, museum or institutional collection open to the public.

SECTION 2. Section 129C of said chapter 140, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 114, the word "handling." and inserting in place thereof the following word:- handling;.

SECTION 3. Said section 129C of said chapter 140, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following clause:-

(t) the possession of firearms, rifles, shotguns, machine guns and ammunition, by banks or institutional lenders, or their agents, servants or employees, when the same are possessed as collateral for a secured commercial transaction or as a result of a default under a secured commercial transaction.

SECTION 4. Section 131B of said chapter 140, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "both", in line 4, the following words:- ; provided, however that nothing herein shall prohibit a bank or other institutional lender from loaning money secured by a mortgage, deposit, or pledge of a firearm, rifle, shotgun or machine gun to a manufacturer, wholesaler, or dealer of firearms, rifles, or shotguns. The provisions of section one hundred and twenty-three shall not be applicable to any such mortgage, deposit or pledge unless or until the lender takes possession of the collateral upon default or the collateral is removed from the premises of the debtor.