Federal law requires federally licensed firearms dealers (but not private sellers) to initiate a background check on the purchaser prior to sale of a firearm. Federal law provides states with the option of serving as a state “point of contact” and conducting their own background checks using state, as well as federal, records and databases, or having the checks performed by the FBI using only the federal  National Instant Criminal Background Check System (“NICS”) database. (Note that state files are not always included in the federal database.)

Massachusetts is not a point of contact state for the NICS. As a result, in Massachusetts, firearms dealers must initiate the background check required by federal law by contacting the FBI directly.¹ A state administrative regulation confirms this requirement.²

Massachusetts also requires firearms owners to obtain a state license prior to purchase of a firearm, and the applicant for a license must undergo a background check before the license is issued. For more information about these licenses, see Licensing in Massachusetts section. Massachusetts requires firearms dealers to verify the identity of the potential transferee and the validity of their license prior to transferring a firearm.³ If the license presented is expired, suspended or revoked, the dealer must notify the licensing authority, take possession of it, issue a receipt to the holder, and notify the holder of their duty to surrender their firearms to the local licensing authority.⁴

Massachusetts generally requires a firearm dealers license in order to sell more than four guns per calendar year.⁵. A law passed in 2024 requires that those without a license to sell use the electronic firearms registration system to verify whether they can sell to a potential buyer.⁶ The seller must provide information necessary to verify the identity of both the seller and purchaser; the system will then automatically review the information and display a message “indicating whether the seller may proceed with the sale or transfer and shall provide any further instructions for the seller as determined to be necessary.”⁷

For more information about Massachusetts licensing of gun owners and laws governing private sales, see the Licensing and Universal Background Checks sections.

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1. Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Instant Criminal Background Check System Participation Map, at http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics/general-information/participation-map.[↩]
2. 803 Mass. Code Regs. 10.07(3)(directing a gun dealer to contact the “national instant check system”).[↩]
3. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 123.[↩]
4. Id.[↩]
5. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 128A[↩]
6. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 128A(g).[↩]
7. Id.[↩]