Gun storage in Mass

Matt2109

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I am pretty sure I know the answer to this and have done lots of reading, but want to see the opinion of NES.

It is my understanding that per Mass law all guns need to be locked to prevent use by unauthorized individuals and children unless they are in a licensed persons direct control. Technically, then it is completely legal for me to have a gun on my coffee table as long as it has a trigger lock installed and locked, correct? I understand that the risk of theft obviously goes up leaving guns in plain sight, but, to do so would not be breaking any laws, correct?

Background: I am looking into good ways to have quick access to handguns in various places in my house, and am currently looking at lock boxes with simplex locks (no bio-metric or batteries here!). And I believe I have convinced myself that simply hiding said boxes in an easy to access place (and keeping them locked) is adequate to meet the law, i.e. it is not necessary for me to bolt said boxes down to meet the requirements of the the law.

Does NES agree with me?
 
Yes, in your house you can use trigger locks, etc... but most of that shit sucks, just lock it in a container instead. There is case law that basically said a lunch cooler with a padlock on it was safe storage, and it was sitting on the guy's back porch. Trigger locks are also legally safe storage.

That said, the more retarded your storage is, there's a possibility you can face suitability issues with your CLEO if your shit gets stolen, but that game is anyones guess and none of that is codified into law. One might suggest, though, that if your chief is a douchebag I would bet anything he would be lot less pissy about guns getting stolen out of a safe that was jacked vs just laying around with a gun lock. Then again though we saw with that guy in lowell, guy had a secured room that someone went through a lot of effort to break into, stole his shit, and the PD/CLEO still put him through the wringer.

That said, I personally don't lose sleep about suitability bullshit, like a lot of people do around here..... my .02.

-Mike
 
Yes, in your house you can use trigger locks, etc... but most of that shit sucks, just lock it in a container instead. There is case law that basically said a lunch cooler with a padlock on it was safe storage, and it was sitting on the guy's back porch. Trigger locks are also legally safe storage.

That said, the more retarded your storage is, there's a possibility you can face suitability issues with your CLEO if your shit gets stolen, but that game is anyones guess and none of that is codified into law. One might suggest, though, that if your chief is a douchebag I would bet anything he would be lot less pissy about guns getting stolen out of a safe that was jacked vs just laying around with a gun lock. Then again though we saw with that guy in lowell, guy had a secured room that someone went through a lot of effort to break into, stole his shit, and the PD/CLEO still put him through the wringer.

That said, I personally don't lose sleep about suitability bullshit, like a lot of people do around here..... my .02.

-Mike


Thanks Mike. Yes, I am looking at secure containers (pistol safes with Simplex locks), but am trying to decide if I need to bolt them down or otherwise secure them....
 
Thanks jasons. Based on that case, in a locked box is legal, but could still likely result in being "jammed up" and have to fight in court depending on LEOs interpretation of the law.....

Gun owners in MA can get "jammed up" for crossing the street. That's life.
 
Why not just carry in your hose?

I do not regularly carry anywhere (go ahead and flame) so I really do not want to carry while around the house. Just want to strategically locate some of my handguns. I know this is not the ideal situation, and understand the pros and cons....
 
No law for storage would be nice,but I've got to say, RI has "common sense" storage law:

TITLE 11
Criminal Offenses

CHAPTER 11-47
Weapons

SECTION 11-47-60.1


§ 11-47-60.1 Safe storage. – (a) Nothing in this section shall be construed to reduce or limit any existing right to purchase and own firearms and/or ammunition or to provide authority to any state or local agency to infringe upon the privacy of any family, home or business except by lawful warrant.

(b) A person who stores or leaves on premises under his or her control a loaded firearm and who knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or guardian, and the child obtains access to the firearm and causes injury to himself or herself or any other person with the firearm, is guilty of the crime of criminal storage of a firearm and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both. For purposes of this section, a "child" is defined as any person who has not attained the age of sixteen (16) years.

(c) The provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall not apply whenever any of the following occurs:

(1) The child obtains the firearm as a result of an illegal entry of any premises by any person or an illegal taking of the firearm from the premises of the owner without permission of the owner;

(2) The firearm is kept in a locked container or in a location which a reasonable person would believe to be secured;

(3) The firearm is carried on the person or within such a close proximity so that the individual can readily retrieve and use the firearm as if carried on the person;

(4) The firearm is locked with a locking device;

(5) The child obtains or obtains and discharges the firearm in a lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person;

(6) The person who keeps a loaded firearm on any premises which is under his or her custody or control has no reasonable expectations, based on objective facts and circumstances, that a child is likely to be present on the premises.

(d)(1) If the person who allegedly violated this section is the parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies as the result of an accidental shooting, the attorney general's department shall consider among other factors, the impact of the injury or death on the person who has allegedly violated this section when deciding whether to prosecute an alleged violation.

(2) It is the intent of the general assembly that a parent or guardian of a child who is injured or who dies of an accidental shooting shall be prosecuted only in those instances in which the parent or guardian behaved in a grossly negligent manner.

History of Section.
(P.L. 1995, ch. 62, § 1.)
 
How to secure a double trigger shotgun?

5ezr4y.jpg



Home Decor- Let's see them wall guns! - AR15.Com Archive (Only in Mass., you need a trigger lock or cable lock.)

126446679.jpg


Over the fireplace (again, with a lock):
Mantel_zpsa25d585f.jpg




Also, here:

Where to Put a Gun Safe
 
Yeah, I meant house, not hose.

In a childless house, a good hiding spot is better than a quick access safe. If you are handy, you can make something that is quick and secure.

I'm a firm believer in the truism that a thief has 5 minutes to find your gun. A child has years.

When I was in CT, I kept a Glock, a spare mag, and a flashlight under a false air register next to my bed. It worked.

CT also does not have a safe storage requirment. Basically. If a kid gets hurt, you are screwed.

MA law is fundamentally different from even CT in that you need a permit or license to merely possess firearms.
Its why I could finally get my wife to get a carry permit in MA. I told her (correctly) that if she didn't have a LTC, I couldn't lawfully give her the combination to the safes.

Don
 
No law for storage would be nice,but I've got to say, RI has "common sense" storage law:

This is a much better law since it only creates criminal liability if "something bad" happens, and it also calls out several defined exceptions that would constitute an owner having taken "reasonable precautions" against unauthorized access. Mass.'s law is just a mess. :(
 
This is a much better law since it only creates criminal liability if "something bad" happens, and it also calls out several defined exceptions that would constitute an owner having taken "reasonable precautions" against unauthorized access. Mass.'s law is just a mess. :(

Some years back I was discussing MA gun law with an attorney who is also a gun guy. He said that there is a lawyers' professional organization that rates the competence of state laws. That is, they don't rate them based on dogma or doctrine, but based on how well they are written. Are they intelligible? Are there clear errors in them? IIRC, he said that MA is routinely about 49th (with 1 being the best).

In other words, even the lawyers' organization believes the MA legislature is filled with a bunch of incompetent morons -- and that is in comparison to other states' incompetent morons.
 
Some years back I was discussing MA gun law with an attorney who is also a gun guy. He said that there is a lawyers' professional organization that rates the competence of state laws. That is, they don't rate them based on dogma or doctrine, but based on how well they are written. Are they intelligible? Are there clear errors in them? IIRC, he said that MA is routinely about 49th (with 1 being the best).

In other words, even the lawyers' organization believes the MA legislature is filled with a bunch of incompetent morons -- and that is in comparison to other states' incompetent morons.

Do you recall #50 so I can be sure I never move there? Thanks! Ha
 
Some years back I was discussing MA gun law with an attorney who is also a gun guy. He said that there is a lawyers' professional organization that rates the competence of state laws. That is, they don't rate them based on dogma or doctrine, but based on how well they are written. Are they intelligible? Are there clear errors in them? IIRC, he said that MA is routinely about 49th (with 1 being the best).

In other words, even the lawyers' organization believes the MA legislature is filled with a bunch of incompetent morons -- and that is in comparison to other states' incompetent morons.

I think one big problem is that Mass. has never pulled a wholesale overhaul of its criminal laws. As a result, there's a lot of cruft in there, and, the more cruft that accumulates, the greater the likelihood that things will end up being contradictory, end up with multiple conflicting definitions, point to definitions that no longer exist, and so on.

Many states overhauled their criminal codes somewhere in the 1960s-80s, after the Model Penal Code was published, in order to get consistency across state lines and to bring criminal laws into line with then-modern ideas of jurisprudence, but Mass. never did.
 
In Southborough, it's unlawful to pasture livestock on public ways.

cite: https://ecode360.com/9539268

who says the laws are not current?

IIRC, it's illegal to bathe your pig in your bathtub in Boston. Or maybe Cambridge. I forget.

eta: I was wrong.

Apparently you can bathe your pig in a bathtub in Boston.

But humans aren't allowed to take more than 2 baths a month in Boston. Which explains the stink.
 
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Don't worry , if you think the storage laws suck now just wait, they may get worse.

The AG office is doing a study because they want to enact MORE COMMON SENSE gun laws.

Talk of mental evaluations ... they want to make it harder for idiots to get guns and talk of harsher penalties for improper storage. .... if it will even save just one life.
 
IIRC, it's illegal to bathe your pig in your bathtub in Boston. Or maybe Cambridge. I forget.

eta: I was wrong.

Apparently you can bathe your pig in a bathtub in Boston.

But humans aren't allowed to take more than 2 baths a month in Boston. Which explains the stink.

In an ironic twist, I believe that one of my ancestors was a Hog Reeve in the Town of Boston (back before the Revolution) [laugh]
 
So to be "unclear" here. Let's assume I have a rifle. Said rifle was unloaded and locked in a rifle case that requires a key. That case was hidden somewhere. I assume that meets the safe storage laws? Maybe?
 
So to be "unclear" here. Let's assume I have a rifle. Said rifle was unloaded and locked in a rifle case that requires a key. That case was hidden somewhere. I assume that meets the safe storage laws? Maybe?

Just read the law yourself.

Section 131L. (a) It shall be unlawful to store or keep any firearm, rifle or shotgun including, but not limited to, large capacity weapons, or machine gun in any place unless such weapon is secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device, properly engaged so as to render such weapon inoperable by any person other than the owner or other lawfully authorized user. For purposes of this section, such weapon shall not be deemed stored or kept if carried by or under the control of the owner or other lawfully authorized user.


https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXX/Chapter140/Section131L
 
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