Large Capacity Feeding Device Laws in Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, you generally cannot own, buy, sell, or bring in a magazine that holds more than ten rounds. The large capacity magazine laws in Massachusetts, rewritten in 2024, now impose a blanket prohibition on these devices for civilians, with one narrow exemption for magazines lawfully possessed on or before September 13, 1994 — and even that exemption limits where you can use the magazine and who you can give it to. Violations carry mandatory prison time. Many online summaries still describe the pre-2024 rules and will steer you wrong.

What Counts as a Large Capacity Magazine

Massachusetts General Laws chapter 140, section 121 defines a large capacity feeding device as any magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that holds more than ten rounds of ammunition or more than five shotgun shells.¹ The definition catches both detachable and fixed magazines, and devices that can be readily converted to exceed those limits.

Three things are excluded even if they appear to hold more rounds:

A device permanently altered so it cannot hold more than ten rounds (or five shotgun shells).
An attached tubular device designed only for .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.
A tubular magazine built into a lever-action rifle or pump shotgun.

If your magazine doesn’t fit one of those exclusions and exceeds the round limits, Massachusetts treats it as a large capacity feeding device no matter when or where you bought it.¹

What the 2024 Law Changed

In July 2024, Massachusetts enacted Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024, which rewrote section 131M of chapter 140.² Before 2024, magazines manufactured before September 13, 1994 were generally legal for licensed owners to possess and carry; post-ban magazines were off limits for civilians. That framework is gone.

Section 131M now says no person may possess, own, sell, transfer, or import a large capacity feeding device in Massachusetts.³ A narrow exemption survives for devices lawfully possessed on September 13, 1994, but it comes with location and transfer restrictions that didn’t exist before.

If You Owned a Pre-Ban Magazine

If you lawfully possessed a large capacity feeding device on September 13, 1994, you can keep it. But under section 131M(c) you can only have it in these places:³

On private property that you own or control, such as your home.
On someone else’s private property, if the property is not open to the public and the owner (or their authorized agent) gives you permission.
At a licensed firearms dealer or gunsmith for lawful repair.
At a licensed firing range or competition venue for practice or competition.
While traveling between those locations, unloaded and in a locked container.

Carrying a pre-ban magazine in a public park, in a store, or anywhere else not on that list violates section 131M even if you hold a License to Carry.

Transfers are also narrowed. You can only transfer a pre-ban device to an heir or devisee, to a person who lives outside Massachusetts, or to a licensed dealer. Private sales to other Massachusetts residents are no longer an option.

If your magazine was manufactured after September 13, 1994, no civilian exemption applies. You cannot legally possess it in Massachusetts at all, regardless of where you acquired it.

If You’re Moving to Massachusetts

Relocating from another state does not create an exception. You cannot import a large capacity feeding device into the commonwealth, even if you bought it legally where you lived before. Before you arrive, dispose of any prohibited magazines by selling them in your previous state, transferring them to someone outside Massachusetts, or surrendering them.

The License You Need

Even to use a pre-ban magazine in the approved places above, you need a License to Carry (LTC). A Firearms Identification Card is not sufficient. The statute expressly says that holding an FID is not a defense to a charge of unlawful possession of a large capacity feeding device.⁴

To get an LTC you must be at least 21, be a lawful resident of the licensing jurisdiction, complete a firearms safety course meeting the requirements of section 131P, and sit for an in-person interview with the local licensing authority.⁵ The authority runs a background check and evaluates whether you are a prohibited person or otherwise unsuitable under section 121F. The application fee is $100, reduced to $25 for retired law enforcement officers.⁶

If your license expires and you don’t renew, you must surrender any large capacity magazines to law enforcement or a licensed dealer until you obtain a new one.

Transporting a Pre-Ban Magazine

When traveling between the approved locations, a pre-ban large capacity magazine must be unloaded and stored in a locked container.⁷ A glove compartment or an unlocked case does not qualify. The container needs an actual lock, and a hard-shell gun case with a key or combination lock is the practical standard. Section 131C imposes a fine of $500 to $5,000 for failing to meet the transport requirement for a large capacity firearm in a vehicle.

Who Is Exempt From the Ban

Section 131M and section 269, § 10(m) carve out several exempt categories:⁴

Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, agents, and employees acting within the scope of their duties and authorized by a competent authority.
Members of any military service of the United States or any state, acting in an official capacity.
Federally licensed gunsmiths and dealers holding a Massachusetts license to sell, though sales are restricted to authorized recipients such as law enforcement agencies.
Federal, state, or local historical societies, museums, or institutional collections open to the public.

Retired law enforcement officers sometimes assume the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA) lets them carry large capacity magazines in Massachusetts. LEOSA addresses the carriage of concealed firearms and does not explicitly override state magazine-capacity limits. The State Department’s own LEOSA FAQ tells retired officers to verify compliance with their state’s laws.⁸ Relying on LEOSA alone to carry a prohibited magazine in Massachusetts is a gamble most firearms attorneys would advise against.

Penalties

Possession Without a License

Under chapter 269, section 10(m), knowingly possessing a large capacity feeding device without a valid License to Carry is punishable by two and a half to ten years in state prison.⁴ The two-and-a-half-year floor is a mandatory minimum. Judges cannot suspend it, and you are not eligible for probation, parole, or work release until you serve it. Prosecutors cannot continue the case without a finding or place it on file.

One partial exception: if you hold a valid FID but not an LTC, you are still guilty, but the mandatory minimum does not apply. Your sentence still cannot drop below one year and cannot be suspended.

Violating the Section 131M Ban

Section 131M(d) adds its own penalty structure. A first offense carries a fine of $1,000 to $10,000, imprisonment of one to ten years, or both. A second offense rises to a fine of $5,000 to $15,000, imprisonment of five to fifteen years, or both.³ These penalties can reach you even if you have a License to Carry, because using a pre-ban magazine outside the approved locations, or possessing a post-ban magazine at all, violates the section regardless of license status.

Enhancement for Felonies Committed With a Large Capacity Firearm

Chapter 265, section 18B adds a consecutive mandatory minimum when a firearm is present during the commission or attempted commission of a felony. The base enhancement is five years for any firearm, rising to ten years for a large capacity firearm or machine gun.⁹ For a second or subsequent felony committed with a large capacity semiautomatic firearm, the enhancement climbs to twenty-five years. These run on top of whatever the underlying felony carries.

Driving Through Massachusetts

The federal Firearm Owners’ Protection Act (FOPA), at 18 U.S.C. § 926A, lets you transport a firearm through a state where you otherwise couldn’t possess it, as long as it is unloaded and not readily accessible from the passenger compartment.¹⁰ FOPA’s text references a firearm and ammunition but does not explicitly mention magazines or feeding devices. Whether it covers you while driving through Massachusetts with a large capacity magazine is legally uncertain.

If avoiding the state isn’t practical, shipping the magazines separately to your destination is the cleanest option. Short of that, store them unloaded in a locked container in the trunk. You are relying on federal preemption arguments that Massachusetts may not honor at the roadside level.

Appealing a License Denial

If your LTC application is denied, including on suitability grounds, you can file a petition for judicial review in the district court with jurisdiction over the police department that denied you. The appeal must be filed within 90 days of the denial.¹¹ The court will hear the facts and make its own determination.

Some grounds are off limits for the petition process. If your denial is based on suitability tied to a prior conviction for domestic assault and battery, a firearms-related crime, or a drug offense, you cannot use the petition to challenge those specific grounds. For other applicants, the appeal is often worth pursuing. Licensing authorities get overturned, particularly when they rely on thin suitability reasoning without concrete disqualifying facts.

1
Mass.gov. Mass General Laws c140 Section 121
2
General Court of Massachusetts. Session Law – Acts of 2024 Chapter 135
3
General Court of Massachusetts. General Law – Part I, Title XX, Chapter 140, Section 131M
4
General Court of Massachusetts. General Law – Part IV, Title I, Chapter 269, Section 10
5
General Court of Massachusetts. General Law – Part I, Title XX, Chapter 140, Section 131
6
Mass.gov. Apply for or Renew a Firearms License
7
General Court of Massachusetts. General Law – Part I, Title XX, Chapter 140, Section 131C
8
United States Department of State. Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA) FAQs
9
General Court of Massachusetts. General Law – Part IV, Title I, Chapter 265, Section 18B
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms
11
Mass.gov. Appeal a Firearms License Denial