How Many Mandatory One-Year Sentences?

I thought Bartley-Fox was amended to increase the mandatory minimum to 18 months? Odds of anyone serving that time in MA, slim to none.

I really want to see a count of how many people could have been charged and have actually been charged and prosecuted with that law. I've never been able to find that information. Probably because it proves MA's "tough on 'gun' crime" stance is a crock of shit.
 
bartley fox in MA is pretty much crap, because of legal mechanics
 
I really want to see a count of how many people could have been charged and have actually been charged and prosecuted with that law. I've never been able to find that information. Probably because it proves MA's "tough on 'gun' crime" stance is a crock of shit.

The Boston Glob did the research on this and actually put it in the paper. I'll try and find the article. It's out there somewhere.

I could be wrong, but I recall the study revealed about 900 arrests for breaking this law and only about 2 put in jail / prosecuted.
 
Has Bartley-Fox ever been used to prosecute an otherwise law-abiding gun owner who, as an example, moved to MA and didn't realize the FR idiocy of our laws? I wouldn't put it past this state for them to throw the book at someone who messed up like in my example but drop the charge for the actual murderers, rapists, and gang-bangers.
 
Has Bartley-Fox ever been used to prosecute an otherwise law-abiding gun owner who, as an example, moved to MA and didn't realize the FR idiocy of our laws? I wouldn't put it past this state for them to throw the book at someone who messed up like in my example but drop the charge for the actual murderers, rapists, and gang-bangers.
If you apply for an LTC shortly after you move to this hell hole, you're covered. I'm presuming you mean people who move here and aren't aware of the draconian laws. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't throw the book at some poor guy who just didn't realize. :/
 
Well having confronted my local Da at one of those firearms "safety," meetings in Lynn ahem. He first stated he prosecuted 100% of crimes with guns. However after gentle prodding he fessed up to only charging a 1/4 of offenders.
 
I love listening to antis. I have heard several of them pushing for mandatory mins for "gun crimes" that have openly admitted and openly campaigned against mandatory mins in the past.

Rape? They don't support mandatory mins. Stabbings, molestation? No mandatory mins. Possession of a super-killy evil-looking black rifle? Min 10 years, no parole!
 
The vast majority of these gun mandatory sentences go away with plea bargains.

That but BF is also incompatible with crimes that serve time in a state prison. So say they put someone in state prison for some thug bullshit, the DA cant tack on the year under BF for the gun because the BF sentence is in a house of correction not state prison, and theres some bullshit that prevents making that time concurrent.
 
I remember signs on the boarder of MA stating that possessing a gun (illegally) would result in a 1 year automatic sentence. I forgot the verbiage and how long ago, early 80's?
 
That but BF is also incompatible with crimes that serve time in a state prison. So say they put someone in state prison for some thug bullshit, the DA cant tack on the year under BF for the gun because the BF sentence is in a house of correction not state prison, and theres some bullshit that prevents making that time concurrent.

Mike is right, I had forgotten that fact. Since they can't be convicted of crimes that have state time AND county time (BF), they have to drop the BF charge to convict on the longer POTENTIAL sentence . . . even though they are usually out of prison sooner due to good time and lenient sentencing from the state (prison time) charges.
 
I met a guy in Billerica back in the early 90s who supposedly did a year in jail for handgun possession under this law. It was like meeting a unicorn.

He could have been bullshitting me of course but he might have been that rare case.
 
I met a guy in Billerica back in the early 90s who supposedly did a year in jail for handgun possession under this law. It was like meeting a unicorn.

He could have been bullshitting me of course but he might have been that rare case.

My understanding is that a handful (but not more) of people have actually been convicted of this crime. But it would only be someone who is otherwise "clean", no other charges and that is almost as rare as unicorns.
 
My understanding is that a handful (but not more) of people have actually been convicted of this crime. But it would only be someone who is otherwise "clean", no other charges and that is almost as rare as unicorns.

His story was that he was a NH resident who inadvertently brought his pistol over the state line without realizing he had done so. Granted, I have no way of knowing if this was true and he might have done a year for molesting chickens or some such weirdness.
 
This issue arises frequently. On the state house steps on Saturday it was again raised by a speaker and it appears in the comments in the Herald today. We are all interested in being accurate in our arguments, and in the spirit of advancing our cause on these issues I have got to say it is entirely UNTRUE that people are not regularly incarcerated for the minimum mandatory sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm. It was 1 year and is now 18 months (or 2 1/2 in state prison). Thousands of these cases are prosecuted and in every court they are either admitted to for the minimum sentence by the defendant or go to trial. Sure some get tossed on motions to suppress or are otherwise fought, but they are not "plea bargained" away on any kind of frequency. In Boston, there's a whole session for these cases in the Municipal Court and specially assigned prosecutors who do nothing but gun cases. I have no idea where this rumor started but it is not accurate and lawful gun owners should not make this argument or risk sacrificing credibility.
 
We have had several arrests for gun crimes locally in the past few years, I have yet to see where any have served any time. On another note didn't the guy who gave the gun, with serial number removed, to the marathon bomber get sentenced this week? IIRC he was not even charged under Bartley-Fox. What did he get for a sentence?
 
I remember signs on the boarder of MA stating that possessing a gun (illegally) would result in a 1 year automatic sentence. I forgot the verbiage and how long ago, early 80's?

I seem remember them back as early as the mid 70's - don't know when they went away.
 
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I view CORI's on a regular basis and am amazed at how often a possession of a firearm w/o a license charge is dismissed. Even more amazing is when a person has multiple counts of firearms possession and does not serve any time.
 
Where do people get this stuff? As a prosecutor I personally did or oversaw probably 50. I've probably reviewed 200 that that did the minimum sentence between 1992 to 2005.

I wouldn't dare try to predict the numbers for the entire state, but do have some anecdotal info from one courtroom.

Back in the 1990s we had a judge from Stoughton District Court as our guest speaker for a police Masonic association. It was odd, but in Stoughton District Court (Norfolk County) he was hearing an overflow from Brockton District Court (Plymouth County) of 35 cases/day, mostly gang bangers and drug dealers with guns (and no LTC of course). He admitted that they filed the gun charges as most of the perps would demand a jury trial if they were facing a minimum mandatory sentence and the judge explained that more than 5 jury trials in a day, with 35 new cases the next day, and in a week the entire court would grind to a standstill!

Someone else here on NES came up with another reason . . . you can't legally sentence someone to a county jail term and a state prison term, so they are usually facing multiple charges and they file away the county jail charges (Bartley-Fox).

A lot of charges are laid on the table but what the person is ultimately sentenced for is the only thing that counts in the end.
 
The very first case tried was a woman who used a revolver to defend herself. She had no license and since it was the only crime, it was the only charge.

Another case was a student who was away long enough for his FID to expire (post '98) and when he showed back up to remedy the situation, the PD arrested him. Again, his only crime was the unlicensed possession. I remember this one because he was unable to produce his original FID. Then, in court when they presented the gun as evidence, the FID fell out of the case when they opened it - and they still convicted him.

I'm sure more than a few people here still have their old $2 "Indefinite unless Revoked" FID with the clear condition on the back as to what may revoke it - and act of legislature is not among them.
 
LMAO about hi-points and death sentences!!! Just to piss people off I will say this...if you fired 200 rounds from a brand new Kimber and 200 rounds from a brand new hi-point, they would have the same number of malfunctions...yes I have experience with both....let the vitriol begin! Personally I would never trust my life to either, but a $200 gun has much more of an excuse than the $2000 gun. P.S. I love you all dearly!
 
This issue arises frequently. On the state house steps on Saturday it was again raised by a speaker and it appears in the comments in the Herald today. We are all interested in being accurate in our arguments, and in the spirit of advancing our cause on these issues I have got to say it is entirely UNTRUE that people are not regularly incarcerated for the minimum mandatory sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm. It was 1 year and is now 18 months (or 2 1/2 in state prison). Thousands of these cases are prosecuted and in every court they are either admitted to for the minimum sentence by the defendant or go to trial. Sure some get tossed on motions to suppress or are otherwise fought, but they are not "plea bargained" away on any kind of frequency. In Boston, there's a whole session for these cases in the Municipal Court and specially assigned prosecutors who do nothing but gun cases. I have no idea where this rumor started but it is not accurate and lawful gun owners should not make this argument or risk sacrificing credibility.


A year or two ago I was counting 4 to 5 to 6 arrests a week for possession of a firearm without a license, just in Worcester alone. The arrests always included other charges as well.
I don't remember one case where the defendant went to jail on the firearms charge. Not one.
 
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