In August of 2014, Chapter 284 of the Acts of 2014 was signed into law. This action amended the Massachusetts gun law and made changes to many of the law’s provisions.

One of the changes made by the new gun legislation was the requirement that the Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS) create a “Massachusetts Gun Portal.” The purpose of this Gun Portal is to allow individual firearms licensees and gun owners to report the personal sale, transfer, and surrender of firearms to the DCJIS via the internet. The goals of this provision were (1) to provide an easy, safe, electronic method for licensees to report firearms sales, transfers, and surrenders and, therefore, comply with the reporting requirements of the gun law, and (2) to speed the entry of gun sale, transfer, and surrender data into the Massachusetts Instant Record Check System (MIRCS) database. The new gun law requires the Gun Portal to be operational by March 15, 2015.

As a result of the above, the DCJIS will implement the Massachusetts Gun Transaction Portal on Sunday, March 15, 2015. The portal will be available at https://mircs.chs.state.ma.us/fa10. Once implemented, all Massachusetts firearms licensees and gun owners will be required to report all personal sales, transfers, and surrenders of firearms to the DCJIS via the new Portal. Paper FA-10 forms will no longer be accepted by the DCJIS for these transactions and will be returned to the submitting individual.

Should you have any questions about the changes identified in this communication, please contact the DCJIS Firearms Records Bureau at 617-660-4782.