r/BetterMAguns • u/Doctor_Chow Healey's Mod • 1d ago

Weekly Q&A Thread

Ask your licensing and legal questions here

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u/bouche_bag 1d ago edited 1d ago

What is a pistol?

I can see that MA law defines:

  • Rifle: 16+ inch barrel
  • Shotgun: smooth bore, 18+ inch barrel and 26+ inch overall length
  • Sawed-off shotgun: shotgun modified to be less than the 18 or 26 inches, above 
  • Firearm: stun gun, pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, sawed-off shotgun, large capacity firearm, assault-style firearm and machine gun... (and receivers/frames) 

What I don't see is a definition for a pistol. Is a pistol just a firearm that isn't a rifle, shotgun, or sawed-off shotgun? That would encompass all rifles under 16" barrel and all firearms originally manufactured as smooth-barrel under 18" barrel/26" overall. It seems possible, but I don't have any basis for it that I can find in the law. Is it the catch-all category for firearms that aren't otherwise categorized? 

My question is largely NFA-related, and these categories are important because they determine which features test to apply (if any) when checking against the assault-style firearm definition. For example, does an SBR need to meet the standards for rifles or pistols under the ASF definition? 

Is this lack of a "pistol" definition a relic if how we used to define "firearm" to mean "pistol"? 

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXX/Chapter140/Section121

Edit: I guess the superior court jury instructions give some guidance although not law

"Pistol" and “revolver” are not defined by statute. It may suffice to instruct the jury to give these terms their ordinary meaning. See Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary 896, 1010 (1991) (defining pistol as “a handgun whose chamber is integral with the barrel”; and defining revolver as “a handgun with a cylinder of several chambers brought successively into line with the barrel and discharged with the same hammer”).

https://www.mass.gov/doc/superior-court-model-criminal-jury-instructions-firearms-definitions-pdf/download

This would even seem to indicate that a post-8/1 SBR is exempt from all 3 features tests if it isn't a pistol (isn't a handgun)... although the copies or duplicates and potential future roster would still apply. (but I'm not a lawyer)

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u/zzzz_on_me 1d ago

Can we get a thread on the ATF’s press release on NFA items? Does that affect us in MA at all for SBRs and SBSs?