Attorney General'S Handgun Enforcement Notice 1 | Law Office of Christopher B. O'Brien

MassFLC › Guidance

This is not law. It records what the body named below published, on the date shown. Commentary, guidance and model instructions may be persuasive, but none of them carries the force of law, and none is a statement of what the law requires.

Retrieved: 2026-03-11

Issuing Office: Office of the Attorney General

The Attorney General's consumer protection regulations governing handguns are now in effect. The regulations apply generally to "transfers" (sales, leases, and rentals) of handguns by "handgun-purveyors" (dealers, wholesalers, and manufacturers) to customers located in Massachusetts. Certain exceptions apply. Existing federal, state, and municipal laws, including those relating to handgun licensing, remain in effect.

The handgun regulations have been codified in the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, at 940 CMR 16.00. The regulations should be consulted for more comprehensive and specific information. This enforcement notice is for general informational purposes only. Only the regulations themselves have the force of law.

Background

The Attorney General promulgated the handgun regulations in October 1997 under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, General Laws Chapter 93A, after public notice and hearings. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the authority of the Attorney General to issue the regulations, and these specific regulations were upheld after litigation.

The Attorney General will enforce the regulations pursuant to the Consumer Protection Act, through civil actions for injunctive relief, restitution, civil penalties (up to $5000 per violation), costs, and attorney's fees.

Requirements Summary

a. Safety Warning/Disclosure Requirements (Section 16.06)

Handgun-purveyors must:
- provide a specific written safety warning to customers;
- explain to retail customers how to safely load, unload, and store the handgun; show how to operate all safety devices; and note the absence, if any, of a load indicator, a magazine safety disconnect, or an internal safety; and
- for handguns with barrels shorter than three inches, disclose to all customers, in writing with specific test data, the accuracy limitations of the weapon.

b. Safety and Performance Standards (Sections 16.03, 16.04, 16.05)

All new (and certain used) handguns that are transferred must meet minimum safety and performance standards:

Tamper resistant serial number (Section 16.03): If the handgun has a "hidden" serial number, or the serial number is stamped into the handgun in such a way as to make it resistant to tampering, it should comply.

Make and Model Performance Requirements (Section 16.04): If the working parts of the handgun (frame, barrel, cylinder, slide, and breechblock) are made entirely of steel, it should comply. If not, ask the manufacturer whether the make and model has passed the 600-round performance test.

Not prone to repeated firing, explosion, or accidental discharge (Section 16.04(2)): Ask the manufacturer whether the make and model passes the drop test specified in the regulations.

Approved lock (Section 16.05(1)): The handgun must be sold with a lock approved by the Colonel of the State Police, as required by G.L. 140, Section 131K.

Built-in childproofing protection (Section 16.05(2)): The handgun must contain a mechanism that effectively precludes an average five year-old child from operating the handgun when it is ready to fire, including but not limited to: a trigger resistance of at least a ten-pound pull; a firing mechanism too small for an average five year-old child's hands; a design requiring a series of multiple motions in order to fire; and/or a hammer deactivation device.

Load indicator or magazine safety disconnect (Section 16.05(3)): If the handgun is a semiautomatic pistol, it must have either a load indicator or a magazine safety disconnect.

c. Unfair or Deceptive Practices Generally (Section 16.02)

The regulations make it an unfair or deceptive practice for any handgun-purveyor to fail to comply with the regulations or with any other local, state, or federal law whose implementation serves to protect consumers. This includes laws that: forbid the sale of handguns to juveniles, addicts, or mentally-incompetent persons; forbid the sale of silencers, armor-penetrating bullets, and machine-gun pistols; forbid the obliteration of serial numbers; require sellers to keep records of handgun sales; forbid sellers from delivering or transporting loaded handguns; and forbid the delivery of handguns to the custody of a minor.

It also is an unfair or deceptive practice for a handgun-purveyor to make material misrepresentations or make false certifications regarding any handgun offered for transfer.