Leaving your firearm in your MV.

The law was unclear until the 1998 law was passed, so many did indeed believe that there was no legal way to leave an unloaded handgun in a MV unattended.


[rofl]

this implies they clarified the law and made it easier to understand... :rolleyes:... hence the "so if my car is moving, it's transport law, and if it's parked it's storage law". So if I'm stopped at a red light, is that transport or storing? LOL
 
I've been in a number of PDs and never asked to secure it. A couple of booking areas as a matter of fact. One time getting prints for FL renewal my gun gave a loud clank when it struck the officers's gun and he never said a word.

I guess the copper who took your mugshot knew you! [devil]


The law was unclear until the 1998 law was passed, so many did indeed believe that there was no legal way to leave an unloaded handgun in a MV unattended.


[rofl]

I do look pretty shady...
 
Had a convo with a buddy Sunday morning about this very topic.. he's a good guy.. a gun guy, and a former cop (in the early 90s).

He said it was illegal to store a gun unattended in a car. Said it had to be under your direct control. Couldn't leave it in a car to run into anywhere.

I said it was legal to leave it in a locked minisafe in the passenger compartment or locked in the trunk. Locked glove box does not count.

however, we did both agree that was not very prudent to leave it there long..

this is Massachusetts.

I ended up finding the answered question on the Norwood PD LTC application that I forwarded to him.

When someone states a "fact" about the law, I say, "Cite, please?"

A couple of times, they've been right. Most often, it's 'received wisdom,' like the old, "A knife that's more than four fingers long is illegal!"

My son was told that in Southborough, it was unlawful to wear a sheath knife. I reviewed the Town's ordinances, and while I did not find anything pertaining to knives, I did learn that in that Town, it's unlawful to pasture your animal in a public way. The more you know.....
 
... in Southborough, ... it's unlawful to pasture your animal in a public way. The more you know.....
FearfulSilverHellbender-small.gif
 
Tl:dr
When I lived in MA and I needed to go into a school (for more than just picking up a child) or the Post Office (when an untucked long sleeve over a t-shirt would be odd) I'd usually just tuck it under the driver's seat and lock the vehicle. If I was going to be longer than a few minutes I'd use a lockbox cabled to the seat frame. At work it was against policy, not law, so I let my discretion reign.

Down here in FreeMerica? Pistol AR lives in a soft case in the locked truck box. Handgun is on my hip, left in the console with the vehicle locked when appropriate.
 
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