HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3731        FILED ON: 2/19/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2533

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Chynah Tyler

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act concerning the reporting of information relating to certain firearms.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3731        FILED ON: 2/19/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2533

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act concerning the reporting of information relating to certain firearms.

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 131Q, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following sections:-

Section 131Q. Tracing by licensing authority of firearm, rifle or shotgun, large capacity weapon, machine gun or assault weapon

(a) Whenever a law enforcement officer seizes or recovers a firearm, rifle or shotgun, large capacity weapon, machine gun or assault weapon that was unlawfully possessed, used for an unlawful purpose, recovered from a crime scene, associated with the commission of a crime, or is otherwise acquired as an abandoned or discarded weapon, the licensing authority for the city or town in which the weapon was seized or recovered shall:

(1) trace the weapon by reporting the following statistical data to the commonwealth fusion center or the criminal firearms and trafficking unit within the division of investigation and intelligence in the department of state police established pursuant to section 6 of chapter 22C, when the data is readily available as determined by the chief of police, including, but not limited to:

(i) the make, model, serial number and caliber of the weapon used;

(ii) the type of crime committed;

(iii) whether an arrest or conviction was made;

(iv) whether fingerprint evidence was found on the weapon;

(v) whether ballistic evidence was retrieved from the crime scene;

(vi) whether the criminal use of the weapon was related to known gang activity;

(vii) whether the weapon was obtained illegally;

(viii) whether the weapon was lost or stolen; and

(ix) whether the person using the weapon was otherwise a prohibited person.

(2) conduct the trace pursuant to section (a) (1) as soon as may be practicable, but in no case more than 48  hours after the law enforcement officer has submitted the weapon to the designated evidence analysis unit or transferred possession of the weapon to the designated evidence officer of the department to which the law enforcement officer belongs; provided that hours during which said evidence analysis unit is normally not open for regular business shall not count toward the 48 hour time period for conducting the trace pursuant to section (a) (1)..

(b) Reported information pursuant to section (a) (1) shall be made available to law enforcement agencies.

(c) The colonel of state police shall produce an annual report by December 31 of each year regarding crimes committed in the commonwealth using firearms, rifles or shotguns, large capacity weapons, machine guns or assault weapons, including all of the categories of data contained in this section, and shall submit a copy of the report to the joint committee on public safety and homeland security, the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate and, upon request, to criminology, public policy and public health researchers and other law enforcement agencies.

SECTION 2. Chapter 140 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 131Q the following two new sections:-

Section 131R. Recovered Firearms and Ballistics Information Submission to National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network

Whenever a law enforcement officer seizes or recovers a firearm, rifle or shotgun, large capacity weapon, machine gun or assault weapon that was unlawfully possessed, used for an unlawful purpose, recovered from a crime scene, associated with the commission of a crime, or is otherwise acquired as an abandoned or discarded weapon, the law enforcement agency that the officer is associated with shall arrange for every such firearm that, in accordance with protocols promulgated by the Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security is determined to merit and be suitable for National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network data entry, to be test-fired as soon as may be practicable and the results of that test-firing be forthwith submitted to the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network to determine whether the firearm is associated or related to any criminal activity.

Whenever a law enforcement officer recovers any spent shell casing at a crime scene or recovers any spent shell casing for which they have reason to believe is related to or associated with the commission of a crime or the unlawful discharge of a firearm, the agency shall, as soon as may be practicable, submit the ballistics information to the National Integrated Ballistics Identification Network.

SECTION 3. Section 104 of chapter 284 of the acts of 2014 is hereby amended by striking out the words “make reasonable efforts to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the United States Department of Justice to analyze firearms trace data” and inserting in place thereof the following clause:-

opt-in to the eTrace System “Collective Data Sharing” program with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the United States Department of Justice