Why It Matters: On July 25, 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed into law an omnibus firearms package. This bill was ultimately passed by the House and Senate as House Bill (HB 4885) – An Act Modernizing Firearm Laws. Behind closed doors, HB 4885 was whittled down to 116 pages which significantly impact Massachusetts firearm owners as well as nonresidents planning on using a firearm for hunting, training or sporting purposes in the Commonwealth.
Highlights:
- Massachusetts HB 4885 passed both chambers on July 18th and was signed into law on July 25th, leaving minimal time for the sporting-conservation community to review and voice their concerns.
- Despite the aggressive time frame, with the leadership of Massachusetts Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus co-chair, Senator Durant, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) submitted a letter to request the governor veto this legislation on the grounds of damaging the hunting and conservation community.
- Despite CSF’s engagement, the Governor signed this harmful bill into law on July 25, 2024.
On July 18, 2023, members of the Massachusetts House and Senate compromised on the creation of MA HB4885 – “An Act Modernizing Firearm Laws.” In an aggressive time frame, this legislation passed both chambers on the same day. As this process was done behind closed doors, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and other sporting-conservation groups could not discuss the final draft of legislation with legislators or staff prior to its passing. The result of the July 18th vote saw 124 Yeas, 33 Nays and 2 N/V from the House and 35 Yeas and 5 Nays in the Senate advancing the legislation to the Governor. The Massachusetts Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chairs all voted against this legislation. On July 25, 2024, the Governor signed this bill into law.
Previously, CSF had engaged with lawmakers and testified on September 29, 2023 when this legislation had first arisen and been known under the bill numbers of HB 4420, HB 4607 and HB 4139. Massachusetts legislation changes numbers when altered. CSF has previously reported on the work that has been done with Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus members on October 18, 2023 when HB 4139 passed the Massachusetts House.
As per the wording of this legislation, a number of issues have been identified by CSF that need addressed or that the public needs to be made aware of the contents of a new Massachusetts law. This includes, type of firearms and ammunition feeding devices allowed, nonresident hunting restrictions and new firearm identification card regulations with a written portion, live fire segment and hand chosen instructors from the Colonel of State Police.
Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation are the three components to growing and building a hunting community. By building an ambiguous network of regulations, the Commonwealth is now creating barriers of involvement for new participants or the reactivation of those who may need to now repurchase new tools to participate in the hunting sports. To hunt, a resident must now obtain a Firearm Identification Card (with an instructor approved by the Colonel of State Police, an approved writing curriculum and a live fire exercise in an environment where ranges are increasingly more difficult to access), purchase a firearm that is not listed as prohibited and register said firearm.
Nonresident hunters cannot possess a firearm within Massachusetts unless their state has similar laws. This section is as follows: “A nonresident who is at least 18 years of age may possess rifles and shotguns that are not large capacity or semi-automatic and ammunition therefor if the nonresident has a permit, card or license issued from their state of residence which has substantially similar requirements to those of the Commonwealth for a firearm identification card as determined by the colonel of the state police…”
This is a de facto ban on nonresident hunting in Massachusetts with a firearm, as other states would need to comply with similar registration of long guns for nonresidents to hunt in the Commonwealth. Conservation funding relies on the purchase of hunting licenses, not to mention the intrinsic dollars spent by nonresidents visiting the region in the purchase of lodging, food, ammunition, and other tourism-based areas.
Standard capacity magazines will be banned as of August 1, 2024, except for those manufactured prior to September 13, 1994. Recreational shooters are the largest contributors to conservation funding through Pittman-Robertson excise taxes, and these notorious (well-known and established) devices are essential to that sport’s practice. Not to mention that many magazines are not serialized or date stamped, making this grandfathered ban confusing and nearly impossible to enforce.
Legislators were able to address some of the issues CSF identified in the earlier iterations of this omnibus legislation. Although all nonresident hunters must still conform with coming from a state with similar long gun registration rules, earlier legislation would have banned anyone under the age of 21 from possessing a semiautomatic shotgun. A previous version would prohibit firearms on any private property, including but not limited to residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, institutional or undeveloped property, unless the owner has provided express consent or has posted a sign indicating that it is permissible to carry on the premises a firearm with a valid and lawfully issued firearm license. Property owners no longer need to proactively post their property to permit firearm possession.
Thanks to the leadership of the Massachusetts Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, CSF has testified with other conservation groups on previous iterations of this bill and has wrote and submitted a veto request to the Governor, siting concerns with this legislation as it directly impacts conservation funding and access to hunters in the Commonwealth on the ultimate passed language. Unfortunately, the Governor was not swayed by CSF’s concerns and signed this omnibus bill into law.
