Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S1491 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 627 FILED ON: 1/17/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1491
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Cynthia Stone Creem
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to preventing illegal trafficking of firearms.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Cynthia Stone CreemNorfolk and Middlesex 1 of 5
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 627 FILED ON: 1/17/2023
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1491
18	18	By Ms. Creem, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1491) of Cynthia Stone Creem for
19	19	legislation to prevent illegal trafficking of firearms. Public Safety and Homeland Security.
20	20	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
21	21	SEE SENATE, NO. 1561 OF 2021-2022.]
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
25	25	(2023-2024)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act relative to preventing illegal trafficking of firearms.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 SECTION 1. Subclause (j) of clause twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 of the General
31	31	2Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word
32	32	3“cards”, in line 206, the following words: - , but such names and addresses shall be made
33	33	4available to law enforcement or other investigative officials, including district attorneys, assistant
34	34	5district attorneys, the attorney general and assistant attorneys general for purposes of enforcing
35	35	6subsection (c) of section 131E of chapter 140.
36	36	7 SECTION 2. Section 123 of chapter 140 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
37	37	8amended by striking the striking in line 27 the words “forthwith at” and inserting in place thereof
38	38	9the words: - within thirty minutes of. 2 of 5
39	39	10 SECTION 3. Section 123 of chapter 140 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
40	40	11amended by inserting after the word “condition.”, in line 247, the following sentences: - Twenty-
41	41	12second, That no licensee shall sell, rent or lease a firearm or large capacity weapon without first:
42	42	13(i) obtaining a signed declaration from the purchaser, renter or lessee, on a form furnished by the
43	43	14executive director of the criminal history systems board, that such individual has not purchased,
44	44	15rented or leased, as those terms are used in section 121 and subsection (c) of section 131E of this
45	45	16chapter, any firearm or large capacity weapon during the previous 30 days, or that such
46	46	17individual is an exempt person as set forth under subsection (c) of section 131E of this chapter;
47	47	18(ii) forwarding such declaration to the executive director of the criminal history systems board;
48	48	19and (iii) receiving notification from the criminal history systems board that the purchaser, renter
49	49	20or lessee has not purchased, rented or leased any firearm or large capacity weapon during the
50	50	21previous 30 days, or that such individual is an exempt person as set forth under subsection (c) of
51	51	22section 131E of this chapter. Such notification from the criminal history systems board shall be
52	52	23valid for no more than two business days after the criminal history systems board issues the
53	53	24notification, after which time the licensee must receive a new notification before completing a
54	54	25sale, rental or lease of a firearm or large capacity weapon to such purchaser, renter or lessee.
55	55	26Such declaration from the purchaser, renter or lessee shall not be a defense in any action brought
56	56	27against a licensee.
57	57	28 SECTION 4. Section 128 of said chapter 140 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is
58	58	29hereby amended by replacing in lines 5 and 6 the words “or twenty-first” and inserting in place
59	59	30thereof the words “,twenty-first or twenty second”. 3 of 5
60	60	31 SECTION 5. Paragraph (1) of section 129B of said chapter 140, as so appearing, is
61	61	32hereby amended by striking in line 100 the word “or” and by inserting after clause (xi) in line
62	62	33102 the following :-
63	63	34 “or (xii) has been convicted of a violation of subsection (c) of section 131E of this
64	64	35chapter.”
65	65	36 SECTION 6. Paragraph (d) of section 131 of said chapter 140, as so appearing, is hereby
66	66	37amended by striking in line 144 the word “or” and by inserting after clause (x) in line 146 the
67	67	38following :-
68	68	39 “or , (xi) has been convicted of a violation of subsection (c) of section 131E of this
69	69	40chapter.
70	70	41 SECTION 7. Section 131A of said chapter 140 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is
71	71	42hereby amended by inserting after the words “proper purpose”, in lines 5 and 6, the following
72	72	43words: - and does not violate the firearm or large capacity weapon purchase, rental or lease
73	73	44limitation in subsection (c) of section 131E of this chapter.
74	74	45 SECTION 8. Section 131E of said chapter 140 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is
75	75	46hereby amended by adding the following subsection: -
76	76	47 (c) no person, other than an exempt person hereinafter described, shall purchase, rent or
77	77	48lease more than one firearm or large capacity weapon in any 30 day period. The term “rent or
78	78	49lease” as used herein shall not apply to the rental or lease of a firearm or large capacity weapon
79	79	50for a duration of less than 48 hours, provided, however that such firearm is rented or leased from 4 of 5
80	80	51a licensee who is licensed under the provisions of section 122 and subject to the conditions
81	81	52described in section 123.
82	82	53 The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the following persons and uses:
83	83	54 (1) Any law enforcement agency or authority;
84	84	55 (2) Any branch of the United States military, including the national guard;
85	85	56 (3) Any persons in any branch of the United States military or police officers and other
86	86	57peace officers who are acquiring firearms for the purposes of performing their official duties or
87	87	58when duly authorized by their employer to purchase them;
88	88	59 (4) Any licensed watch, guard or patrol agency or their licensed employees in the course
89	89	60of their employment under sections 22 and 25 of chapter 147;
90	90	61 (5) Any person who has been certified as a licensed collector by the criminal history
91	91	62systems board;
92	92	63 (6) A federal, state or local historical society, museum or institutional collector open to
93	93	64the public;
94	94	65 (7) Any exchange of a firearm or large capacity weapon for another firearm or large
95	95	66capacity weapon purchased, rented or leased from the licensed dealer by the same person seeking
96	96	67the exchange within 30 days immediately before the exchange;
97	97	68 (8) A firearms surrender program authorized by and in compliance with section 131O of
98	98	69this chapter. 5 of 5
99	99	70 A non-exempt person who purchases, rents or leases more than one firearm or large
100	100	71capacity weapon in any 30 day period shall be punished, for a first offense, by a fine of not more
101	101	72than $1,000, or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both such tine and
102	102	73imprisonment; and for any subsequent offense shall be punished by a fine of not less than $
103	103	741,000 and not more than $5,000, or by imprisonment for not more than two and one-half years,
104	104	75or by both such fine and imprisonment. The punishments under this subsection shall be separate
105	105	76from the procedures established for the denial, revocation or suspension of firearm identification
106	106	77cards, licenses and permits provided under this chapter.
107	107	78 Any person or licensee who sells, rents or leases a firearm or large capacity weapon to a
108	108	79non-exempt person under this section, with knowledge or reason to know that the person has
109	109	80purchased, rented or leased a firearm or large capacity weapon within the previous thirty days
110	110	81shall be punished, for a first offense, by a fine of not more than $5,000 or by imprisonment of not
111	111	82more than two and one-half years, or by both such fine and imprisonment; and for any
112	112	83subsequent offense shall be punished by a tine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000
113	113	84or by imprisonment for not more than five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. These
114	114	85punishments shall be separate from the procedures established for the denial, revocation or
115	115	86suspension of firearm identification cards, licenses and permits provided under this chapter.