NSSF Welcomes Massachusetts AG’s ‘Enforcement Notice’ Clarification

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearms industry trade association, accepts Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s agreement to clarify the Enforcement Notice that included “’ Copies’ or ‘Duplicates’ of the Enumerated Weapons.” The Attorney General’s agreement to clarify this notice effectively ends the legal challenge by NSSF, Pullman Arms of Worcester, Mass., along with three other Massachusetts firearms retailers.

“We are pleased this matter has come to a successful resolution,” said Lawrence G. Keane, Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs and General Counsel for NSSF. “We sought clarification to the Enforcement Notice to allow firearms retailers to know exactly what the law stated and ensure they were operating within the confines of that law. For two and a half years, these business owners were left in the dark, and today, they finally have the clear answers they sought.”

In 2016 Attorney General Healey charged that firearms retailers were violating the intent of a state law against so-called “assault weapons” by making small tweaks to certain firearms and issued the Enforcement Notice. The Notice warned retailers those so-called “copies” or “duplicates” of the firearms specifically listed in the state law were illegal for sale.

NSSF and the stores had to file the case to challenge the Notice because it was too vague to apply. The complaint identified the difficulties in applying the Notice to listed firearms after the Attorney General’s office ignored multiple requests to clarify the Notice as to those firearms. The Office did not take steps to clarify the notice for two and a half years, and only recently notified the Plaintiffs that the listed firearms are not illegal “assault weapons.” The Office agreed to amend the Notice after NSSF prevailed against multiple motions designed to dismiss or stall the case. Because the Notice has been clarified, the goals for the case have been achieved, and there is nothing else to fight about in this action.