Sorry for this long post, but I have been through this twice. While it sucks to put this out in this forum, I can at least say how it went down in my cases. Maybe this will help prepare others. And, yes, I am happily divorced now! Both times were unexpected, though admittedly much less so the second time.
I knew zero about the law the first time, back in '99. The ro was from a different town than my residence, as I was in the process of moving. The responding officers from the new town were actually cool and tried to put me at ease and explained their policy. Because they were building a new station, they had no storage and asked the other town to pick up. The officer from that town (Weymouth, what a surprise:/) got in my face and was a total douche from the get go, to the point that the Lt. from Rockland told him to back off. I only had an FID and long guns at the time. They took everything, including pellet guns. The ro expired in three days (or whatever the timeframe is) and the town would NOT return my FID or my guns. Luckily I was able to get it all back two years later. Weymouth has a huge station and apparently didn't use a bonded warehouse. That may have changed since.
When I bought a house in Wareham in 2001, I talked to the licensing officer. I explained the whole situation, and she was awesome and had me fill out the ltc app. I got LTC-A unrestricted in 30 days and went back to Weymouth to collect my stuff. The officer at the desk was a d*** just like I have come to expect from that town, but I got all my stuff, along with a nice gouge in my Churchill O/U. He wouldn't even allow me to case anything, but said 'You have a license to carry, you just better hurry and get out of here.'
I saw where things were heading, and let the house in Wareham go and we moved to a rental in Marion. The second ro was in '09 and although I was getting ready, my ex made the first move. I stopped at the house to get some things and she called the police while I was in the bathroom. They showed up while I was taking care of business and I was told to come out with my hands visible, so I grabbed a roll of tp in each hand, lol. The responding officers, while not total d****, had no idea what the law was. They also took everything from the safe, including pellet guns and a blackpowder rifle, yet they left my father's bayonet from Korea. I realize they should have left that anyway, but they did take my 2" pocketknife. When I questioned why the pellet guns and blackpowder, they said they had to take ALL guns. I said those weren't guns under MA law and was told too bad. They also weren't sure if it was legal for me to have a loaded gun in my safe. And they let me take the guns out and clear them. I made them document everything on a receipt before they left with them.
At the station the next day I was able to get my pocketknife. I asked about a warehouse and they said they store them for 1 year before they contact a warehouse. The temp ro was extended for six months since divorce was filed. Again I checked and the police said one year at the pd. The day the ro expired I went to the courthouse to make sure it was vacated. I went to the pd that afternoon and got my LTC and made an appointment for the following day to get all my guns.
Neither time did ANY of the responding officers ask if I had any more guns OR any ammo. When I was accompanied my Marion pd on a couple of occasions to get belongings, one officer stayed on the back deck with my ex. The other stayed by the front door while I was in the cellar. I was shaking my head as I had to move three hunting bows and totes filled with ammo to get to some of my tools.
Sent from my iPhone using
Tapatalk