Bayonet spotted inside car by Boston police leads to gun arrest

Wait, are bayonets illegal in Mass(IBTEIIIM)? And that would warrant a search?

Illegal under Mass. knife laws. Public possession of any kind of double-edged blade is illegal, even if the second edge isn't sharpened. Also Boston has a limitation on blade length, either 2.5 or 3.5 inches, I can't remember exactly. Presumably possession of one such item might be probable cause to think you had more. Also given that this was in a vehicle, if the vehicle was towed and impounded incident to the arrest, a search-and-inventory of the vehicle contents incident to towing and impoundment is also according-to-Hoyle.
 
Bayonets are not "per se" illegal in all of Massachusetts, but it's a non-criminal violation to have in the passenger compartment of a vehicle in Boston:

The police will argue that the presence of one in clear view raises a reasonable suspicion that the driver was armed and dangerous. That in turn would justify a "stop and frisk." So I would expect an illegal search argument to lose in court.
There is no illegal search here. Stolen license plates means a tow, police policy on tows is to do an inventory of the car prior to towing so that when someone claims that their hope diamond was stolen by the tow yard, the police have a viable excuse to refute it.
 
Illegal under Mass. knife laws. Public possession of any kind of double-edged blade is illegal, even if the second edge isn't sharpened. Also Boston has a limitation on blade length, either 2.5 or 3.5 inches, I can't remember exactly. Presumably possession of one such item might be probable cause to think you had more. Also given that this was in a vehicle, if the vehicle was towed and impounded incident to the arrest, a search-and-inventory of the vehicle contents incident to towing and impoundment is also according-to-Hoyle.

Cite, please?

That said, I do agree that a bayonet is not the idea sharpandpokey to carry, without the bang-stick to attach it to. [laugh]
 
Driving around with a suspended license in a car witfh a stolen plate. Bayonet in the back seat........hmm.......What could possibly go wrong ? These idots did nothing right and deserve whatever they get. More stupid people winning stupid prizes.
 
Cite, please?


Holding that a shank was a double-edged knife, the court found -- "Then the metal sharpened to a point with either side thinned to an edge" and "Third, the sharpened end was a double-edged blade, so here was a knife 'having' such a blade. It was not essential that the weapon be double-edged along its entire length.

Whether the Massachusetts state law can stand in light of Heller and McDonald has yet to be seriously tested, but I think a court would have to reach pretty far to conclude that bayonets are in " common use for lawful purposes like self-defense."
 
As police in Boston stopped a car for a stolen license plate, they spotted a large bayonet on the floor of the backseat, authorities said.

The stop ended with one man under arrest on a gun charge.

Officers on patrol around 9:50 p.m. Saturday in the area of Blue Hill Avenue and Livingston Street spotted a car with a stolen license plate.

Police stopped the car.

“As officers made contact with the motor vehicle, they observed a large bayonet on the floor of the backseat,” police said.

The driver, identified as 40-year-old Carolena Shephard, and her passenger, identified as 36-year-old Corey Hinds, were both removed from the car.

“Officers performed a pat frisk of Mr. Hinds and immediately felt a hard object that officers believed to be a firearm,” police said. “Officers recovered a loaded Jennings Firearm .22 caliber long rifle with six rounds in the magazine.”

Hinds was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. The bayonet was recovered and removed from the vehicle.

Shepard was arrested after police found that her license had been suspended. She had a default warrant out of Brighton District Court as well, police said.


A Jennings with a bayonet mount is extra killy.

She was driving a car with a stolen license plate and had a suspended drivers license and a warrant. I suspect the scrub was going to get frisked anyway, regardless of the bayonet. Which is not "controlled or regulated" and should be returned to the owner.
 

Holding that a shank was a double-edged knife, the court found -- "Then the metal sharpened to a point with either side thinned to an edge" and "Third, the sharpened end was a double-edged blade, so here was a knife 'having' such a blade. It was not essential that the weapon be double-edged along its entire length.

Whether the Massachusetts state law can stand in light of Heller and McDonald has yet to be seriously tested, but I think a court would have to reach pretty far to conclude that bayonets are in " common use for lawful purposes like self-defense."

Thanks
 
I own a 1907 Wilkinson Bayonet, but I don't have an Enfield (or anything else) on which to mount it.

I have the Enfield. Give me the bayonet... Thanks.
[/QUOTE]

I'm open to offers...
Bayonet.jpg
 
Glad you got things squared away. I had one in 2004 and just recently followed that up with open heart surgery last year. Take your meds and follow your dietary restrictions.
If you train hard and long enough you can step it up to the Raven 25. There were a crap load of these around years ago.


After getting a Seecamp I now have a mouse gun bug. I may start collecting the little buggers.
 
In addition to my Jennings J22, I have a Walther TPH, NAA mini and of course a Seecamp.
That’s cool. I had to google the TPH. Just like a PPK only smaller. .25 cal? I just asked Brian at Designergrips.com if I could swap out the grips I just bought on my Seecamp for a pair without the aggressive grip. Silver carbon fiber.
 
That’s cool. I had to google the TPH. Just like a PPK only smaller. .25 cal? I just asked Brian at Designergrips.com if I could swap out the grips I just bought on my Seecamp for a pair without the aggressive grip. Silver carbon fiber.

.22lr. Always wanted one. Window shopping one day and stumbled across it. Horrible double action pull. But one of those guns I had to own.

Iver Johnson has a clone “TP” I think.
 
There is no illegal search here. Stolen license plates means a tow, police policy on tows is to do an inventory of the car prior to towing so that when someone claims that their hope diamond was stolen by the tow yard, the police have a viable excuse to refute it.
Len, it's even simpler than that, from the article
“Officers performed a pat frisk of Mr. Hinds and immediately felt a hard object that officers believed to be a firearm,” police said. “Officers recovered a loaded Jennings Firearm .22 caliber long rifle with six rounds in the magazine.”

So the gun was found on his person, not in the car, when he was arrested for the plate. The bayonet never had anything to do with it. That was just Reptile being reptile.
 
Len, it's even simpler than that, from the article
“Officers performed a pat frisk of Mr. Hinds and immediately felt a hard object that officers believed to be a firearm,” police said. “Officers recovered a loaded Jennings Firearm .22 caliber long rifle with six rounds in the magazine.”

So the gun was found on his person, not in the car, when he was arrested for the plate. The bayonet never had anything to do with it. That was just Reptile being reptile.
I never changed the original headline from the newspaper - MassLive.
Seemed like a credible source to me.

Heck, I didn't even call Mr. Jennings a Scoundrel!

Edit:

It seems to me that the bayonet was probable cause to frisk the men.
 
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I never changed the original headline from the newspaper - MassLive.
Seemed like a credible source to me.

Heck, I didn't even call Mr. Jennings a Scoundrel!

Edit:

It seems to me that the bayonet was probable cause to frisk the men.
Now you're not even reading it. They stopped and arrested him for the stolen plate. They always search you for weapons when you are arrested. And they found the gun on his person.

Stop trying to justify the BS. If you going to post something, at least read it. And don't propagate the BS.
 
Now you're not even reading it. They stopped and arrested him for the stolen plate. They always search you for weapons when you are arrested. And they found the gun on his person.

Stop trying to justify the BS. If you going to post something, at least read it. And don't propagate the BS.

I read it as the chica was driving the car with a stolen plate and suspended license. The scrub had a heater.

Any coppers here comment on whether a sketchy looking passenger would have been searched "anyway" absent a stray bayonet floating around in the back seat?

 
Stolen plates, suspended license, open warrant, Jennings .22 pistol and a bayonet? Sounds like a car full of stupid.
I would expect this in Florida not up here.
 
I said to someone once "It's a Jennings so there is a reasonably good chance it will not function and be considered "not a firearm'". Had a case with a Bryco and the firearm cert took a long time to come back. Unfortunately that one worked.
 
There is no illegal search here. Stolen license plates means a tow, police policy on tows is to do an inventory of the car prior to towing so that when someone claims that their hope diamond was stolen by the tow yard, the police have a viable excuse to refute it.
If a driver is having their car towed absent any probably cause (for example, an accident or they have a medical condition), does the "inventory search" allow the police to breech a locked container contained within the vehicle?
 
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