Last updated October 2026 · By Nick Hall, who tracks Massachusetts firearms law and read Chapter 135, 501 CMR 19, 501 CMR 20 and the Question 9 ballot text before writing this
Quick take: Today, October 28, 2026, is the date Massachusetts set for gun owners to have their firearms serialized and registered through the state’s MIRCS portal under Chapter 135, the 2024 gun law. Six days from now, voters decide Question 9, and a No vote on it would repeal that same law.
- What happened: The state’s public notice says “Firearms must be serialized and registered by October 28, 2026” through the MIRCS firearms portal run by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services.
- Why it matters: Under section 121B of M.G.L. c. 140, failing to register a gun carries a fine of up to $1,000 for a first offense, and jail becomes possible from the second offense on.
- What’s next: Question 9 on the November 3, 2026 ballot asks voters whether to keep Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024, and a No vote would repeal it.
- Who to watch: The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, which wrote 501 CMR 19 and 501 CMR 20, and DCJIS, which runs the portal.
Most deadline stories are a calendar reminder and nothing else. This one lands six days before voters decide whether the law behind it survives, and the state’s own paperwork does not agree with itself on one of the dates. I read the statute, both regulations and the ballot text, so here is what is actually in them.
Deals of the Day
Today's best discounts · Updated 3x daily
Gun Deals
See All →
Ammo Deals
See All →
Table of Contents
What the Massachusetts Gun Registration Deadline Covers
The registration rule lives in M.G.L. c. 140, § 121B, which Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024 added when it was approved on July 25, 2024. Its opening paragraph doesn’t leave much room: “All firearms possessed, manufactured or assembled in the commonwealth shall be registered in accordance with this section.”
The deadline comes from the Act’s own transition sections. Section 157 gave DCJIS a year to build the registration system and then said “all firearms shall be registered in accordance with this act and not later than 1 year after said electronic firearms registration system is completed and publicly available.” Section 158 does the same for serial numbers. The EOPSS public notice puts the date at October 28, 2026.
Registration runs through the MIRCS firearms portal, and 501 CMR 19.07 is short about it: “All firearms must be registered via the MIRCS portal.” The state’s notice tells users to set up a MyMassGov account first, because that account is “required to access the new MIRCS serialization, transaction and licensing portals.”
And “firearm” is broad here. Both regulations define it as a stun gun, pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, sawed-off shotgun, large capacity firearm, assault-style firearm or machine gun, plus frames, receivers and unfinished frames or receivers. Antique firearms and permanently inoperable guns are carved out. The full picture of what Chapter 135 changed is in our Massachusetts gun laws guide.
What the MIRCS Portal Asks For
Under 501 CMR 19.03, a registration needs your name, address, phone number and email, plus your license, card or permit type, number and expiration date, or documentation of an exemption under § 129C. Then the gun details: type of firearm, the date you acquired it, the source you got it from, and whether it was privately made.
Two of those come with a soft edge. The regulation asks for the acquisition date and the source “if presently known,” a qualifier the statute itself doesn’t carry. For a shotgun that has been in the family closet since before anyone kept receipts, that qualifier matters.
The list says “Type of firearm” and does not itself spell out make, model or serial number, although the loss-or-theft report in 501 CMR 19.06 asks for all three. To finish, you acknowledge “under the penalties of perjury” that you are properly licensed, permitted or exempted and not otherwise prohibited.
Serial Numbers, and a Date That Doesn’t Match
Section 121C opens with “All firearms shall have a serial number”. The number has to be engraved, cast or embedded at least .003 inches deep in print no smaller than 1/16 inch, and non-metal frames and receivers get a metal plate embedded in the material.
For most owners this half is a non-event. 501 CMR 20.12 exempts “Firearms with an existing serial number” and “Firearms manufactured prior to October 22, 1968,” though owners of serialized guns still have to follow the registration rules. The people it bites are owners of guns without a valid serial number, mostly home builds, and DCJIS issues serial numbers through the same portal.
Here is the wrinkle. 501 CMR 20.08(1), as printed in the Massachusetts Register on September 26, 2025, says anyone holding a previously made gun without a valid serial number “must serialize said firearm by October 2, 2026”. The EOPSS notice says October 28. Neither document explains the gap, so the cautious reading is the earlier date. Either way, both have now arrived.
What Missing the Deadline Can Cost
Section 121B(e) sets the penalties for failing to register a gun or report a transaction, loss or theft: a fine of not more than $1,000 for a first offense, not more than $7,500 or up to 6 months in jail or both for a second, and not more than $10,000 or 1 to 5 years or both for a third or later offense. It also makes a failure to report “cause for suspension or permanent revocation” of a license, card or permit. Section 121C has no penalty schedule of its own.
The deadline clears a one-time backlog. The rest runs forever: new residents get 60 days to register what they bring in, heirs get 60 days, dealers importing guns get 7 days, and a privately made gun has to be registered within 7 days of being built. Every sale, rental, lease, loan or other transfer has to be reported by all parties within 7 days, except a loan of less than 7 days to a licensed or exempt person, and a lost or stolen gun gets 7 days too.
The exemptions list in 501 CMR 19.09 runs longer than the statute’s. It covers nonresidents carrying under a § 131F license, guns sitting with a licensed gunsmith for repair, people training under § 131P, and “Any firearm transaction previously recorded in MIRCS or any legacy systems utilized by DCJIS.” If you think one of those fits you, read the actual text before you skip the portal.
Question 9 and the Chapter 135 Backdrop
The November 3, 2026 ballot carries nine binding statewide questions, and Question 9 is the “Referendum on an Existing Law” on Chapter 135. The ballot text notes the House approved it 124 to 33 and the Senate 35 to 5, both on July 18, 2024.
The vote runs the opposite way from what a lot of people expect. Per the official text, “A YES VOTE would keep in place the law” while “A NO VOTE would repeal this law.” If you plan to vote against Chapter 135, that means voting No.
The official summary covers serial numbers, saying the law requires all firearms except antiques and relics “to have serial numbers.” The word registration does not appear anywhere in the Question 9 summary, and the ballot text does not say what happens to records already filed if No wins.
This is the same state whose top court just upheld the under-21 carry license rule, so Massachusetts gun owners have had a busy month. But today’s date comes from the statute’s one-year clock, and nothing on the ballot moves it. Question 9 is Tuesday’s problem. The portal, today’s.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Massachusetts gun registration deadline?
The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security says firearms must be serialized and registered by October 28, 2026. Registration is done through the MIRCS firearms portal run by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services.
Which guns have to be registered in Massachusetts?
M.G.L. c. 140, section 121B says all firearms possessed, manufactured or assembled in the commonwealth shall be registered. The regulations define firearm broadly, including frames, receivers and unfinished frames or receivers, but exclude antique firearms and permanently inoperable guns. A short list of exemptions in 501 CMR 19.09 covers things like guns owned by the United States government and nonresidents carrying under a section 131F license.
What information does the MIRCS registration ask for?
Under 501 CMR 19.03 you provide your name, address, phone number and email, your license, card or permit type, number and expiration date, the type of firearm, the date you acquired it and its source if presently known, and whether it was privately made. You then acknowledge under the penalties of perjury that you are properly licensed and not prohibited from owning a gun.
Do I need to put a new serial number on a gun that already has one?
No. 501 CMR 20.12 exempts firearms with an existing serial number and firearms manufactured before October 22, 1968 from the serialization rules, but those guns still have to be registered. The serialization step affects guns without a valid serial number, such as unserialized privately made guns.
What is the penalty for not registering a gun in Massachusetts?
Section 121B(e) sets a fine of up to $1,000 for a first offense, up to $7,500 or up to 6 months in jail or both for a second offense, and up to $10,000 or 1 to 5 years or both for a third or later offense. Failing to report can also lead to suspension or permanent revocation of a license, card or permit.
How long do new Massachusetts residents have to register guns?
Firearms imported by a new resident must be registered within 60 days of import. Heirs who receive a gun through an estate also get 60 days, while dealers have 7 days for guns they import.
What is Massachusetts Question 9?
Question 9 on the November 3, 2026 ballot is a referendum on Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024, the law behind the registration and serialization rules. A Yes vote keeps the law in place and a No vote repeals it.
Does Question 9 change the October 28, 2026 deadline?
The vote is on November 3, 2026, six days after the deadline, so it does not move the date. The ballot text does not say what would happen to registrations already filed if the law is repealed.
Related Reading
- Massachusetts gun laws: Chapter 135, LTC, FID and the assault-style ban
- US gun laws by state: the full legal directory
- Judge upholds the Massachusetts under-21 gun ban
- Ninth Circuit rejects a wider ATF ghost gun rule
- Delaware ghost gun bans struck down, sales rules survive
- Universal background check states: the complete list
3,959+ Gun & Ammo Deals
Updated daily from 200+ top retailers. Filter by category, caliber, action type, and price.
Related Guides
