Massachusetts Firearms Registration Deadline:
What to Do Before October 28, 2026

EOPSS Guidance #5, issued September 18, 2026, says individuals must comply with the registration and serialization requirements in Sections 121B and 121C beginning October 28, 2026. Both systems are already available through the MIRCS Unified Gun Portal. This transition date must be read alongside the statutory deadlines for purchases, imports, inheritance, and privately made firearms.^[2][3]

If your firearm was already reported through the Massachusetts transaction portal, Guidance #5 says you do not have to register it again when the new system goes live. An FA-10 from a Massachusetts dealer, personal registration, or transfer documents registration. If you are unsure whether a firearm was reported, you can request the information from the Firearms Records Bureau for a fee. The guidance says there is no penalty for registering it again.^[2]

Section 121B covers firearms possessed, manufactured, or assembled in Massachusetts, subject to its exemptions. These include qualifying nonresident travel, firearms owned by the United States government, specified commercial transport, firearms delivered to law enforcement solely for destruction, and firearms produced by federally licensed manufacturers that are not for sale in Massachusetts. Guidance #5 also says nonresidents do not have to register firearms while traveling in or through Massachusetts or possessing a rifle or shotgun under a Section 129C exemption. Registration does not make otherwise prohibited possession lawful.^[7][2]

The registration regulations in 501 CMR 19.09 also exempt firearms possessed by a nonresident under a Section 131F license and firearms possessed while receiving training under Section 131P. They exempt otherwise lawful firearms sent to and received from a licensed gunsmith for repair or the other listed services. A Massachusetts resident returning after at least 180 consecutive days away has an exemption for firearms already in their possession before returning. The regulations also exempt firearms possessed under Section 129C(e), (f), or (g) if those firearms were previously registered. For the nonresident Section 129C exemption, the regulations specify rifles and shotguns that are neither large capacity nor semiautomatic. These exemptions concern registration and do not authorize otherwise prohibited possession.^[8]

Registration generally occurs when a firearm is imported, purchased, acquired, manufactured, or assembled. Section 121B allows 60 days for new-resident imports and qualifying inheritance, and 7 days for imports by licensed dealers, gunsmiths, distributors, or manufacturers and for privately made firearms after manufacture or assembly. Transaction reporting has a separate 7-day requirement, with an exception for qualifying loans lasting less than 7 days. The owner must report a firearm's loss or theft within 7 days of learning of it.^[7]

Use the MIRCS Unified Gun Portal for registration and serial-number requests. When you buy from a Massachusetts dealer, Guidance #5 says the dealer records the transaction. If you previously registered a frame or receiver and then build it into a firearm, the guidance says the completed firearm must be registered again.^[2][3]

Registration and serialization are separate duties. A firearm with an existing compliant serial number does not need a new number from MIRCS. Section 121C exempts firearms manufactured before October 22, 1968 from its serialization requirements, but that exemption does not by itself exempt them from registration. For a privately made firearm, obtain the required DCJIS number before manufacture or assembly, serialize it during that process, and register it within 7 days. Other statutory exemptions and the special import or inheritance periods still apply.^[4][2]

Section 121B sets maximum first-offense fines of $1,000. A second offense can bring a fine up to $7,500, imprisonment up to 6 months, or both. A third or later offense can bring a fine up to $10,000, imprisonment from 1 to 5 years, or both. Failure to report can also cause suspension or permanent revocation of a firearms license, card, or permit.^[7]

Question 9 goes before Massachusetts voters on November 3, 2026. A YES vote keeps the law and a NO vote repeals it. The law took effect on October 2, 2024 and stays in effect unless voters repeal it, so the registration requirements apply from October 28, 2026.^[5]