In 2024, Massachusetts passed a law requiring registration of all firearms possessed, manufactured or assembled in the Commonwealth.¹ The law requires the Department of Criminal Justice Information services to develop and maintain a real time electronic firearms registration system to register firearms and firearm transactions.² 

Generally, registration of the firearm must be completed at the time of the transaction,³ and must include the:

• Registrant’s name, address, and contact information; 
• Registrant’s license, card or permit type, license, card or permit number and expiration dates, or documentation of exemption; 
• Type of firearm;
• Date the firearm was acquired; 
• Name and address of the source from which the firearm was acquired, including the names and address of the prior registrant, if applicable;
• Whether the firearm was privately made; and 
• Statement signed by the registrant under penalty of perjury that they are properly licensed, permitted, or exempt, and are not otherwise prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm.⁴

However, a firearm may be registered within 60 days if imported by a new resident of the Commonwealth or if acquired through distribution of an estate.⁵ A firearm may be registered within 7 days if imported by a licensed dealer, gunsmith, dealer or manufacturer, or if privately manufactured or assembled.⁶

Additionally, all firearm transactions in the Commonwealth must be registered within 7 days, including, but not limited to: purchases, sales, rentals, leases, and loans; however, a report is not required for the loan of a firearm to a licensed or exempted person for less than 7 days.⁷ 

These requirements do not apply to firearms being delivered to law enforcement for destruction; those possessed by common carriers in the ordinary transport of firearms as merchandise for customers licensed to permit such transport; firearms possessed by nonresident owners lawfully traveling through the Commonwealth, so long as they are stored in accordance with Massachusetts law; firearms that are property of the U.S. government; or produced by federally licensed manufacturers not for sale in the Commonwealth.⁸

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1. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140 § 121B(a)(1).[↩]
2. Id.[↩]
3. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140 § 121B(a)(2).[↩]
4. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140 § 121B(a)(1).[↩]
5. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140 § 121B(a)(2).[↩]
6. Id.[↩]
7. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140 § 121B(b).[↩]
8. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140 § 121B(d).[↩]