Are ar-15 pistols legal in MA?

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So i had 2 questions:

1. I have a stripped lower receiver in my safe. I bought it from four seasons, it has never been assembled into a rifle. Can I built an ar-15 Pistol from it?

2. What is MA law regarding a "trunk gun", or a gun that stays permanently in your vehicle, in a locked container.
 
1. Not legally.

2. Storage law. Legal in a locked container. There was a prior (last month?) discussion on the wisdom of this however, and I'd worry about mold/corrosion/etc. sitting in that environment all the time.
 
You can legally build an AR pistol, its just that you'd have to hack the shit out of that gun to keep it under 50oz. Not to mention you can't put a barrel shroud over the barrel. It's basically a waste of time in MA if you want to keep it legal.
 
Unless you can find a pre-ban gun or receiver that was originally built up as a pistol. (not likely)

Re a trunk gun. Like Len said, there are no legal restrictions as long as its in your trunk OR in a locked container.

One other thing. This restriction only applies to large capacity firearm. If you have something like a pump action shotgun with a tube magazine or a rifle with a fixed magazine, none of these transport restrictions that people often mention apply.

Simply put, the law does not restrict how you can transport non-large capacity long guns at all, other than that they must be unloaded. Is this wise? Probably not if you intend to drive with your rifle across your lap. (legal but ill advised) But what that does mean is that all you really need to concern yourself is with storage. Not transport.

Don

p.s. I don't know if the interior of a vehicle is considered to be a locked container. Although I'm not a fan of storing a gun in a vehicle, we're talking the law here, so O'll speculate. A lever gun behind the seat of a truck, not locked in any way, would be legal to drive around with. But once you park the vehicle, is it legal? It all rests on whether the interior of the truck itself is considered to be a locked container. That I don't know.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? With citations please.

p.p.s. Citation for my comments above:

(c) No person possessing a large capacity rifle or shotgun under a Class A or Class B license issued under section 131 or 131F shall possess the same in a vehicle unless such weapon is unloaded and contained within the locked trunk of such vehicle or in a locked case or other secure container. Whoever violates the provisions of this subsection shall be punished by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000.
 
I don't recommend using the "trunk" as a locked container. Keep it in a case and locked up during transport.

Suitability could be at risk for even the most blatant misinterpretation.
 
Don,

MV =/ NOT a locked container, Comm v. Reyes

Once you get out of the vehicle, it is no longer being "transported", it is now being "stored" and the storage law makes no distinction between large or non-large capacity long guns . . . they all have to be in a locked container or locked trunk.

Loaded mags (in MA) can be placed in the same locked container as the UNLOADED long gun, that is legal.

I recommend all guns be transported the same way that the law requires for storage as that alleviates the problem of getting out of a MV and keeps you in total compliance.

In general not casing your guns in the trunk means they are going to get banged around and damaged over time. Law or no law, I'm not in favor of damaging my guns. YMMV
 
I don't recommend using the "trunk" as a locked container. Keep it in a case and locked up during transport.

Suitability could be at risk for even the most blatant misinterpretation.
The MGL couldn't be clearer on this, use a trunk OR locked container for firearms subject to the transport laws.

See mgl quote above
 
I don't recommend using the "trunk" as a locked container. Keep it in a case and locked up during transport.

Suitability could be at risk for even the most blatant misinterpretation.

Thats ridiculous. At least with respect to transport. If you actually have a trunk, its not a problem. Find me one case of a person having a problem with this and I'll send you the 6 pack of your choice.

If you want to spend your life dealing with utterly stupid trigger locks marking up your guns and cumbersome hard cases beating up your trunk thats also your perspective. But if you have a trunk, you can simply put a large capacity long gun in a soft case.

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Can you have loaded mags in the same container as the unloaded gun? Is that one of those Massprudence issues, or it's ok?

Yes you can.

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Don,

MV =/ NOT a locked container, Comm v. Reyes

Once you get out of the vehicle, it is no longer being "transported", it is now being "stored" and the storage law makes no distinction between large or non-large capacity long guns . . . they all have to be in a locked container or locked trunk.

Loaded mags (in MA) can be placed in the same locked container as the UNLOADED long gun, that is legal.

I recommend all guns be transported the same way that the law requires for storage as that alleviates the problem of getting out of a MV and keeps you in total compliance.

In general not casing your guns in the trunk means they are going to get banged around and damaged over time. Law or no law, I'm not in favor of damaging my guns. YMMV

Thanks Len.

My aversion is to hard cases, not to cases. When I lived in CT I built up a nice collection of high quality soft long gun cases. I put the gun in the soft case (no trigger lock, of course), and put the case in my trunk.

So just to clarify, the interior of a MV is not a locked container suitable for storage, but the trunk of a MV is.

Right?

If so, has any opinion been rendered on a locked glovebox? (For ethical reasons, I'd never do this, but am just curious)
 
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Thats ridiculous. At least with respect to transport. If you actually have a trunk, its not a problem. Find me one case of a person having a problem with this and I'll send you the 6 pack of your choice.

If you want to spend your life dealing with utterly stupid trigger locks marking up your guns and cumbersome hard cases beating up your trunk thats also your perspective. But if you have a trunk, you can simply put a large capacity long gun in a soft case.

Thanks Len.

My aversion is to hard cases, not to cases. When I lived in CT I built up a nice collection of high quality soft long gun cases. I put the gun in the soft case (no trigger lock, of course), and put the case in my trunk.

So just to clarify, the interior of a MV is not a locked container suitable for storage, but the trunk of a MV is.

Right?

If so, has any opinion been rendered on a locked glovebox? (For ethical reasons, I'd never do this, but am just curious)

Don, my only personal aversion to hard cases is that my Civic won't hold many of them in the trunk (think going to an NES shoot)! Like you I jumped on a bunch of nice soft cases and use them as much as possible.

The locked glovebox is a huge gray area. Comm v. Reyes, he claims that his gun was in a locked glove box, the PD claimed it wasn't locked but they convicted him on illegal storage anyway. It was remanded back to District Court, so no idea if there was a further outcome or not. I'd say that it is ill advised to store any guns/ammo/mags in the glove box, especially because many folks keep their car registration there and if a cop ever sees gun stuff, things can go badly very quickly (even if legal) in MA.
 
Ok so if stored in the trunk...

Define trunk storage for:

Glock with hi caps

AR with hi caps

Shotgun 10 rounds or more than10 rounds
 
Ok so if stored in the trunk...

Define trunk storage for:

Glock with hi caps

AR with hi caps

Shotgun 10 rounds or more than10 rounds

step 1: unload
step 2: put in trunk

any questions?

edit: I guess I should mention I don't keep anything valuable in my car other than $2 in quarters for parking meters, so I don't recommend trunk storage. also, you technically don't need to unload for storage but if it's in a car then you're likely to be transporting so unloading would apply in Mass
 
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Thats ridiculous. At least with respect to transport. If you actually have a trunk, its not a problem. Find me one case of a person having a problem with this and I'll send you the 6 pack of your choice.

If you want to spend your life dealing with utterly stupid trigger locks marking up your guns and cumbersome hard cases beating up your trunk thats also your perspective. But if you have a trunk, you can simply put a large capacity long gun in a soft case.

- - - Updated - - -



Yes you can.

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Thanks Len.

My aversion is to hard cases, not to cases. When I lived in CT I built up a nice collection of high quality soft long gun cases. I put the gun in the soft case (no trigger lock, of course), and put the case in my trunk.

So just to clarify, the interior of a MV is not a locked container suitable for storage, but the trunk of a MV is.

Right?

If so, has any opinion been rendered on a locked glovebox? (For ethical reasons, I'd never do this, but am just curious)

not trying to start any painful debates- the law may say that a trunk is a locked container. I offered an opinion that it may be wise to transport a large capacity modern sporting rifle inside a locked case. The issuing C.O.P. may decide that not doing so makes you an unsuitable sherson for an LTC-A. Or he doesn't have to explain his decision. YMMV.
 
not trying to start any painful debates- the law may say that a trunk is a locked container. I offered an opinion that it may be wise to transport a large capacity modern sporting rifle inside a locked case. The issuing C.O.P. may decide that not doing so makes you an unsuitable sherson for an LTC-A. Or he doesn't have to explain his decision. YMMV.

Not try to start an argument, it's just very frustrating though when people give advice without reading the law, which was posted in this very thread already.

The law doesn't say a "trunk is a locked container" it says a locked trunk can be used for transport:

(c) No person possessing a large capacity rifle or shotgun under a Class A or Class B license issued under section 131 or 131F shall possess the same in a vehicle unless such weapon is unloaded and contained within the locked trunk of such vehicle or in a locked case or other secure container. Whoever violates the provisions of this subsection shall be punished by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000.

You are of course welcome to offer your opinion but it seems to be based solely on fear mongering
 
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Not try to start an argument, it's just very frustrating though when people give advice without reading the law, which was posted in this very thread already.

The law doesn't say a "trunk is a locked container" it says a locked trunk can be used for transport:



You are of course welcome to offer your opinion but it seems to be based solely on fear mongering

Opinion? Yes. The fact remains that the issuing authority can revoke LTC's without cause. Also, I have lived long enough in Mass to know that if a local prosecutor, say, located in Eastern Ma wants to ruin your life, there is little you can do short of years of litigation.
 
Back to the original questions... the only thing that saves AR pistols in mass is the law stating that if it has a "fixed" magazine then the rest of the AWB does not come into play. Mind you there is absolutely nothing in mass case law that identifies what constitutes a "fixed" magazine so preceded at your own risk....

Conversely, if you can put together a way to make it other then semi-auto it's all good too. Maybe that pump action one I saw a while back, or just remove the gas return and make it a 'bolt gun' by pulling the charging handle for every shot

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