Firearm Transfer Reporting Alert

April 26, 2010

Gun Owners' Action League (GOAL) has received several calls regarding the scarcity of the state firearm transfer reporting form commonly referred to as the FA-10 form. GOAL would like to inform all of our members that the state has contacted us and informed us of the following:

·         The contractor who was hired to produce the FA-10 forms for the Commonwealth has chosen to no longer be eligible as a state vendor;

·         This original contractor maintains the legal rights to the existing FA-10 forms. Subsequently, no other company is allowed to take the formatting/template from them and reproduce it;

·         The state is currently seeking another company to produce a similar form, but must do so through a state approved bidding process which is a timely process;

·         The computer system that scans the information from the current FA-10 forms will not function with photocopies. As a result, the state has told us that any photocopied FA-10 forms will most likely be rejected. (Keep in mind that the law requires us to use forms furnished by the executive director of the criminal history systems board.)

With the lack of FA-10 forms and uncertainty of when new forms will be available, the Firearms Record Bureau is recommending that transfers be delayed until forms are available or have them done through a licensed state firearms dealer through the computerized Massachusetts Instant Record Check System (MIRCS).

GOAL will continue to look into the matter and if it is not resolved immediately we may seek emergency legislation repealing the reporting requirement. We will alert our members to any changes. We would urge any members experiencing problems obtaining an FA-10 form to contact their state legislators and report the problem. This most recent matter is yet another reason for the legislature to pass H.2259 GOAL's Civil Rights and Public Safety Act reforming Massachusetts gun laws.

Chapter 140: Section 128A. Application of Sec. 128

Section 128A. The provisions of section one hundred and twenty-eight shall not apply to any person who, without being licensed as provided in section one hundred and twenty-two, sells or transfers a firearm, rifle or shotgun to a person licensed under said section one hundred and twenty-two, or to a federally licensed firearms dealer or to a federal, state or local historical society, museum or institutional collection open to the public. The provisions of section one hundred and twenty-eight shall not apply to any resident of the commonwealth who, without being licensed as provided in section one hundred and twenty-two, sells or transfers to other than a federally licensed firearms dealer or organization named above not more than four firearms, including rifles and shotguns in any one calendar year; provided, however, that the seller has a firearm identification card or a license to carry firearms, is an exempt person under the conditions of clauses (n), (o), (r) and (s) of the fourth paragraph of section one hundred and twenty-nine C, or is permitted to transfer ownership under the conditions of section one hundred and twenty-nine D and the purchaser has, in the case of sale or transfer of a firearm, a permit to purchase issued under the provisions of section one hundred and thirty-one A and a firearm identification card issued under section one hundred and twenty-nine B, or has such permit to purchase and is an exempt person under the provisions of section one hundred and twenty-nine C, or has been issued a license to carry firearms under the provisions of section one hundred and thirty, or in the case of sale or transfer of a rifle or shotgun, the purchaser has a firearm identification card or a license to carry firearms or is an exempt person as herein before stated; and provided, further, that such resident reports within seven days, in writing to the executive director of the criminal history systems board on forms furnished by said executive director, the names and addresses of the seller and the purchaser of any such large capacity feeding device, firearm, rifle or shotgun, together with a complete description of the firearm, rifle or shotgun, including its designation as a large capacity weapon, if applicable, the caliber, make and serial number and the purchaser's license to carry firearms number, permit to purchase number and identifying number of such documentation as is used to establish exempt person status in the case of a firearm or the purchaser's license to carry number or firearm identification card number or said document identity number, in the case of a rifle or shotgun.