SECTION 1. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2EEEE, the following new section:-

2FFFF. There is hereby established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Firearms Violence Prevention Trust Fund. Amounts credited to such fund shall be available, without further appropriation, to the Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security who shall utilize such funds to establish an annual municipal grant program to support municipal violence prevention programs.  Provided that priority shall be given to programs that support the provision of school resource officers, programs to address youth exposure to actual and depicted violence, and training of police in handling incidents involving persons suffering from mental illness.

SECTION 2.  Section 2 of Chapter 64H of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following new paragraph:-

In addition to all other rates of tax provided herein, an additional surcharge of 4.75 percent shall be imposed on sales at retail of all ammunition, rifles, shotguns, firearms or parts thereof, as those terms are defined in section 121 of chapter 140,   in the Commonwealth.  All revenues received from such surcharge, together with any penalties, forfeitures, interest, costs of suits and fines collected in connection therewith, less all amounts refunded or abated in connection therewith, all as determined by the commissioner of revenue according to his best information and belief, shall be credited to the Firearms Violence Prevention Trust Fund established pursuant to section 2FFFF of chapter 29 of the General Laws.

SECTION 3.  Section 2 of Chapter 64I of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following new paragraph:-

In addition to all other rates of tax provided herein, an additional surcharge of 4.75 percent shall be imposed on the storage, use or other consumption of ammunition, rifles, shotguns, firearms or parts thereof,  as those terms are defined in section 121 of chapter 140, purchased from any vendor or manufactured, fabricated or assembled from materials acquired either within or outside the commonwealth for storage, use or consumption within the commonwealth.  All revenues received from this surcharge, together with any penalties, forfeitures, interest, costs of suits and fines collected in connection therewith, less all amounts refunded or abated in connection therewith, all as determined by the commissioner of revenue according to his best information and belief, shall be credited to the Firearms Violence Prevention Trust Fund established pursuant to section 2FFFF of chapter 29 of the General Laws.

SECTION 4.  Chapter 140 of the general laws, as so appearing is hereby amended by inserting after section 123, the following new section:

Section 123A.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, law or regulation to the contrary, it shall be unlawful to sell, purchase, rent, lease or possess a .50 BMG rifle or .50 BMG cartridge.  Any person violating this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000, or by imprisonment for not less than 1 year nor more than 10 years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.  For purposes of this section the following words shall have the following meanings:-

".50 BMG cartridge" means a cartridge that is designed and intended to be fired from a center fire rifle and that meets all of the following criteria:

   (a) It has an overall length of 5.54 inches from the base to the tip of the bullet.

   (b) The bullet diameter for the cartridge is from .510 to, and including, .511 inch.

   (c) The case base diameter for the cartridge is from .800 inch to, and including, .804 inch.

   (d) The cartridge case length is 3.91 inches.

".50 BMG rifle" means a center fire rifle that can fire a .50 BMG cartridge and is not already an assault weapon or a machinegun. It shall not include any antique firearm, nor any curio or relic as defined in Section 478.11 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 

The provisions of this section shall not apply to (i) any officer, agent or employee of the commonwealth or any state or the United States; (ii) any member of the military or other service of any state or of the United States; (iii) any duly authorized law enforcement officer, agent or employee of any municipality of the commonwealth; provided, however, that any such person described in clauses (i) to (iii), inclusive, is authorized by a competent authority to carry or possess the weapon so carried or possessed and is acting within the scope of his duties.

SECTION 5. Section 129B of said chapter 140, as appearing in the 2012 official edition and as amended by chapter 284 of the acts of 2014, shall be further amended by adding in line 249, after the words “shall not apply” the following:

“provided  however, that any person in possession of a non-large capacity rifle or shotgun whose firearm identification card issued under this section is invalid for the sole reason that it has expired not including licenses that remain valid under paragraph (9) because the licensee applied for renewal before the license expired, but who shall not be disqualified from renewal upon application therefor pursuant to this section, shall if such license has been expired for a period of time exceeding 90 days be guilty of a crime and subject to the issuance of a warrant for his arrest as well as a warrant issued pursuant to chapter 276, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000 and the provisions of said section 10 of said chapter 269 shall not apply;”

SECTION 6.  Section 131 of said chapter 140, as amended by section 47 of chapter 284 of the acts of 2014, is hereby further amended in paragraph (b) by adding after the words “or by such other person” the following words:- “over the age of 16”.

SECTION 7.  Section 131 of Chapter 140 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended in paragraph (m) by adding after the words “shall not apply” in lines 321 and 322, the following:-  provided  however, that any person in possession of a firearm, rifle or shotgun whose license issued under this section is invalid for the sole reason that it has expired not including licenses that remain valid under paragraph (i) because the licensee applied for renewal before the license expired, but who shall not be disqualified from renewal upon application therefor pursuant to this section, shall if such license has been expired for a period of time exceeding 90 days be guilty of a crime and subject to the issuance of a warrant for his arrest as well as a warrant issued pursuant to chapter 276, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000 and the provisions of said section 10 of said chapter 269 shall not apply;”