Bill S.1563

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1506 FILED ON: 2/17/2021

SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1563

By Ms. Creem, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1563) of Cynthia Stone Creem for legislation relative to firearms and firearms violence. Public Safety and Homeland Security.

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 1387 OF 2019-2020.]

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 relative to firearms and firearms violence.

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 29 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 2VVVV, the following new section:-

2WWWW. 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 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 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 2WWWW 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 2WWWW 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.

(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 128A of chapter 140 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking the following 2 sentences:- “Any sale or transfer conducted pursuant to this section shall comply with section 131E and shall, prior to or at the point of sale, be conducted over a real time web portal developed by the department of criminal justice information services. The department of criminal justice information services shall require each person selling or transferring a firearm, shotgun or rifle pursuant to this section to electronically provide, though the portal, such information as is determined to be necessary to verify the identification of the seller and purchaser and ensure that the sale or transfer complies with this section.” and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sentences:- “Any sale or transfer conducted under this section shall comply with section 131E and shall take place at the location of a dealer licensed under section 122, who shall transmit the information required by this section for the purchases and sales by utilizing the electronic verification link established by the commissioner of the department of criminal justice information services. A licensed dealer may charge the seller a fee not to exceed $25 for each sale or transfer electronically submitted on behalf of the seller to the department of criminal justice information services.”

SECTION 6. 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 408, 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 7. 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 8. 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 line 560, 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;”

SECTION 9. Section 131½ of chapter 140 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 official edition, is hereby amended by inserting, after the words “police chiefs association” the following new language:-“, one of whom shall be the attorney general or a designee”.

Name:	District/Address:
Cynthia Stone Creem	First Middlesex and Norfolk