House Bill HD.353 seeks to revise Massachusetts’ current gun laws by replacing the words “assault weapon” with “any rifle or shotgun containing a semiautomatic mechanism.”
A “semiautomatic” firearm is a gun that fires one round each time the trigger is pulled. Once one round is fired, another is automatically loaded into the gun’s chamber.
Assault weapons, which are prohibited in the Bay State, are defined to include
any of the weapons, or copies or duplicates of the weapons, of any caliber, known as:
(i) Avtomat Kalashnikov (AK) (all models);
(ii) Action Arms Israeli Military Industries UZI and Galil;
(iii) Beretta Ar70 (SC–70);
(iv) Colt AR–15;
(v) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR and FNC;
(vi) SWD M–10, M–11, M–11/9 and M–12;
(vi) Steyr AUG;
(vii) INTRATEC TEC–9, TEC–DC9 and TEC–22; and
(viii) revolving cylinder shotguns, such as, or similar to, the Street Sweeper and Striker 12
M.G.L. c. 140, Section 121
The sale, transfer, or possession of “assault weapons” is a felony, punishable with a ten-year prison sentence, under M.G.L. c. 140, Section 131M.
If Bill HD.353 passes, nearly all rifles and shotguns will be banned, aside from those that operate with bolt-action or pump-action feeding devices.
Of course, the proposed statute expressly exempts “law enforcement” and any “individual who is employed by a state or federal agency.”
Law Office of Justin R. McCarthy 