I see that I can buy an AR from S&W that has:

1. No muzzle device
2. Fixed stock
3. 10 round mag
4. No bayo lug

Am I cool to buy this and transport into Mass, or can I give this as a gift to someone IN Mass and leave it there?

What I dont understand is what there is magic about the 2016 date called the Healey date or Healey law.

I get that pre-94 is anything goes.

Post 94 to 2016 = ?

2016 to 2020 = ?

The website for the group that is a gun advocate for Mass wont list a phone number unless you join their group.

There are Mass.gov website explanations but they leave a lot to your imagination.

Ive called gun stores but they have no reason to help since they cannot sell anything to me

I even called the Mass AG office and the Mass gun registration office and got nothing. The Gun reg office even said that they are expressly forbidden to answer any questions regarding "assault weapons" and the AG office only will give me an email address to send my personal info to for lodging a formal inquiry.

Very freakin frustrating trying to just make compliant decisions. Just want to stick to the letter of the law.

>Am I cool to buy this and transport into Mass

Generally speaking, one requires a license to possess a gun or ammo in Mass.  There are exceptions for sworn LE on duty, and for participation in a formal competition [not just dirt shooting].  So, no dice, and that's without getting into the AG's fuckery on re-interpreting the AWB.

>can I give this as a gift to someone IN Mass and leave it there?

Private transaction involving a gun across state lines?  Generally illegal, friend.

Those were the questions you asked initially.

Getting into the fuckery from the Attorney General - on 7/20/2016, Healey's office announced that *all* AK / AR / similar rifles which were copies of guns banned by the state AWB* were illegal to possess.  That anyone currently in possession was a felon.  That it wasn't possible to comply with the ban by removing prohibited features.  But that the AG's office wasn't interested in prosecuting all these new felons.

Sales of AR / AK type guns has essentially stopped.  The only known legit avenue for these types of guns involves new manufacture fixed magazine lowers.  JC Arms won a lawsuit over these, and we have a court ruling that fixed mag lowers [manufactured as fixed, not with a bullet button installed after the fact] are legal.

Honestly, it gets worse, but that should address most of what you're asking.

If you want to get your friend a rifle, have that person get their license and buy a gun in state.  MUCH simpler, quicker, and cleaner for all involved.  Just gift them some money if you need to.

*state level version of the federal AWB of 1994, but without sunset provision

Thanks for the thorough reply..

It's almost as if your atty gen doesnt want people in Mass to own sporting rifles???!

The AG didn’t actually change the law, what she did was reinterpret the definitions to suit her needs. By doing so she has essentially stopped NEW sales through dealers.

This all applies if you have a MA resident LTC....

Private sales can and do still happen with receivers and complete firearms.

By the AG’s office not giving any answers allows them to leave it vague so they can change it whenever they want.

We have a case at the Supreme Court now waiting for a decision to see if they will grant cert.

Her interpretation is not written law, and there have been no test cases based on it. Would you be charged in the state for having a new rifle or receiver? No one knows. She is winning by scaring people so far.

Everything that Steve said.

and no, there's no "almost" about the AG and guns.

https://www.mass.gov/enforcing-the-massachusetts-assault-weapons-ban

Also worth noting: There is NO exemption for bringing any large capacity long guns or any handguns into MA by a NR unless they have a MA LTC. The reason has to do with the grammar in MGL C.140 S. 131G (it is a bogus exemption).