Smart move. I teach people the law and then explain that most LEOs won't know what is what so that Massprudence dictates that locked up and out of sight is the wisest choice and avoids unnecessary "discussion" on the side of the road.
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Does a trigger lock count as secured while transport?
- Thread starter Neeko
- Start date
Smart move. I teach people the law and then explain that most LEOs won't know what is what so that Massprudence dictates that locked up and out of sight is the wisest choice and avoids unnecessary "discussion" on the side of the road.
45collector
NES Member
One of my hunting buddies has a Tundra with a duel locking cabinet setup on the floor of the bed, a painted to match cap with locking window, and the whole bed area is upholstered with some sort of heavy duty gray material. There's multiple LED light strips along the inside top of the cap too, so when the lift glass and tailgate are opened, they all turn on. It's a pretty badass setup. The locking cabinets (drawers really) are as secure as you could want. Crowbar wouldn't do the trick.
M1911
Moderator
No argument there. I always recommend keeping things out of site if at all possible.
dcmdon
NES Member
Its a common misconception that all long guns not under your direct control need to be in a locket container in something like a Jeep.
This is wrong.
They only need to be in a locked container if they are considered to be largecapacity rifles or shotguns.
non high capacity firearms could be resting across your lap and still be legal. While this isn't advised, it is what the law is.
As others have said, a trigger lock does nothing for you with respect to transport.
Don
Link:
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXX/Chapter140/Section131c
Text. Emphasis added by me
(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.
This is wrong.
They only need to be in a locked container if they are considered to be largecapacity rifles or shotguns.
non high capacity firearms could be resting across your lap and still be legal. While this isn't advised, it is what the law is.
As others have said, a trigger lock does nothing for you with respect to transport.
Don
Link:
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXX/Chapter140/Section131c
Text. Emphasis added by me
(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.
dcmdon
NES Member
Having a shotgun in your backseat is just stupid, at least in MA.
In CT, I've kept a shotgun in the passenger seat of my car with the stock and receiver down by the heat to dry it off after duck hunting. I've done this more times than I can count. I also will typically put my soft gun bag on the drivers side rear seat when going somewhere in CT. My attitude in CT is that a right not exercised is a right lost.
But I wouldn't do any that in MA. At least not eastern MA. I'm fully cognizant that there are no gun rights in MA.
But some MA people take it to a ridiculous extreme. Trigger locks on the gun, inside a locking gun case, then in the trunk. I keep coming back to one thing. If you have more than 2 or 3 guns, there is no reason to own a trigger lock. The guns are either on you or in a safe at home and either in a soft case or in a locked hard case for transport depending on the gun and your vehicle.
I own a sedan with a trunk that can't be accessed while driving. I dont' use hard cases. But I understand why others have to. But trigger locks make no sense.
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I wonder how all this ties into the lawmakers brains when they require trigger locks to be included with the sale of a new gun. (I don't know the exact law, but I know it's out there) What's the point of having the trigger lock come with the gun if you can't transport it that way?
Keeper
NES Member
So people don't put off getting a lock for storage.
dcmdon
NES Member
Its for the children.
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Of course if you have a TRTL-30 rated safe at home, you still need the lock.
In this respect, CT is even more ridiculous.
The law was written years ago, before guns came with locks. The law says "The dealer will provide and affix a lock" or something to that effect.
So by law, the dealer must PROVIDE a lock, even if the gun came with one. Amazing.
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Of course if you have a TRTL-30 rated safe at home, you still need the lock.
In this respect, CT is even more ridiculous.
The law was written years ago, before guns came with locks. The law says "The dealer will provide and affix a lock" or something to that effect.
So by law, the dealer must PROVIDE a lock, even if the gun came with one. Amazing.
"Out of sight, out of mind"
This is my philosophy, and stand by it; no matter where I am. No one needs to know I have guns in the car. Be it a police officer if I get stopped for any reason, some scumbag walking/driving by doesn't need to see my guns. Either locked in the trunk or on the back seat with a blanket over top.
It helps that my range bag is a Husky tool bag. Non-the-wiser.
This is my philosophy, and stand by it; no matter where I am. No one needs to know I have guns in the car. Be it a police officer if I get stopped for any reason, some scumbag walking/driving by doesn't need to see my guns. Either locked in the trunk or on the back seat with a blanket over top.
It helps that my range bag is a Husky tool bag. Non-the-wiser.
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Rule of thumb: When no in ones immediate control, if the gun requires an LTC to possess outside the home, it needs to be in a truck or locked container during transport. If the gun can be possessed with merely and FID card, the law defaults to the run of the mill safe storage law requiring a tigger lock or locked container.
Gun the requires an LTC: 131C
Gun the only requires an FID card: 131L
45collector
NES Member
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
M1911
Moderator
Because I don't trust your average beat cop to understand such niceties of the law. Nor do I trust them to properly recognize what is a large capacity rifle/shotgun and what is a non-large capacity rifle/shotgun. I suspect that the most many of them understand is that "guns must be in a trunk or locked up" when transporting them in a vehicle.
So if discovered by such an officer, you can expect to be arrested and hauled in to the police station. While you probably wouldn't get prosecuted, it would still ruin your whole day, and for the rest of your life you would have to answer yes to the question "Have you ever been arrested?"
Is that likely? Who knows. But I can easily avoid it by simply putting the gun in a locked container. I can easily avoid that risk, so why take it, even if it is small?
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dcmdon
NES Member
Because people like to worry.
In all seriousness, they worry because in MA you possess firearms at your CLEO's pleasure. If he chooses to revoke your LTC because he feels you showed bad judgement, you lose the right to even possess firearms.
In CT, most of the people I know do NOT fear being arrested. Because as long as you are following the law, things typically get dropped once they get to a prosecutor. Its a nuisance. Nothing more.
You don't need a license or permit to merely possess in CT.
In MA its a different thing. A minor encounter that pisses off your CLEO could result in you losing your 2A "rights".
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This.
Suffice to say, most people on this board know the gun laws better than most of my LE colleagues.
Gun laws are just one of the many areas of the vast criminal law we need to know. And it's so convoluted and we deal with it so infrequently that most officers would rather devote study time to brushing up on other areas of law.
In fairness to the MPTC, they've given great focus to gun laws in the past two years of inservice training.
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With correct info? Or with MCOPA "wish the law was this" dogma?
Serious question.
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No, with correct info. Scheft writes the updates, and I believe he uses Ron's stuff as his foundation.
For example, last year we spent a good three hours on gun laws--stuff like the range and gun show exclusions for out of staters, etc. I heard they're doing it again this year, though I don't go until June.
Cap
NES Member
I understand what you are saying, but that applies to many other things as well. So its safe to assume you don't own any pre-ban mags due to the fear of LEOs not understanding those as well?
I get that, and to be honest, 90% of the time everything is transported in a case. However, the times I don't have enough room to bring everything in cases, there is no hesitation to just throw the bolt-actions in the back with a blanket on top.
Maybe I'm giving LEOs too much credit, but I would think they would listen to my explanation and cite of the law. Who knows.
Exactly what is "...gun show exclusions for out of staters..." referring to?
Cap
NES Member
You get my point though.
M1911
Moderator
But you missed mine.
It isn't hard to throw my non-large capacity long gun in a locked container. I'm going to put it in a container just to protect it from getting knocked around on the way to the range anyways, so tossing a lock on takes me just a few seconds.
That is more than a little different than giving up the capacity of a preban magazine.
If you don't want to lock up your non-large capacity long guns when you transport them, that's your call. I'll take the conservative approach.
Same here. And keep the Vault out of sight. If someone wanted to steal your gun, the cable lock would not help much, but it would stop some opportunistic juvenile from breaking the window and run away with the broken box.
All the laws are for preventing kids from getting access, not securing your gun from theft.
