Massachusetts law concerning the presence of a firearm in the home for home defense?

massnee

massnee

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What is Massachusetts law concerning the presence of a firearm in the home for home defense?

Is it legal to have a handgun with a chambered round secured only with a trigger lock?

Would it be legal to have an ar loaded, secured only with a trigger lock?

I have already tried to searching this site for the info…but to no avail.
 
You don't want a loaded gun with a trigger lock... bad news.

Technically, that might be legal, but practically speaking its a dumb
idea. Trigger locks suck, and are often hard to remove in an
emergency.

Get a container thats lockable (eg a gun safe, or gun cabinet, or a fast
action safe). That definitely qualifies the letter of the law AND makes it
easier to deal with.

-Mike
 
drgrant said:
You don't want a loaded gun with a trigger lock... bad news.

Technically, that might be legal, but practically speaking its a dumb
idea. Trigger locks suck, and are often hard to remove in an
emergency.

Get a container thats lockable (eg a gun safe, or gun cabinet, or a fast
action safe). That definitely qualifies the letter of the law AND makes it
easier to deal with.

-Mike
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+1000
 
For others benefit, as I just spoke with the OP.

- Guns must all be locked at all times when not under direct control of licensed person.

- May be legal to lock with round chambered, but not a smart thing to do. Better to train with the Israeli method of carry/loading for safety reasons.

- AR trigger guard can easily be opened, I am told (I just looked at both of mine and it appears you need to use a punch), so some will question the legality. I have done this and would continue to do so if necessary, but consider it a gray area in light of the recent court ruling (key to house and keeping guns "ultra secure").
 
May be legal to lock with round chambered, but not a smart thing to do. Better to train with the Israeli method of carry/loading for safety reasons.
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1) I agree with others that using a trigger lock on a loaded gun is a bad idea.

2) However, that does not mean that you can not (or should not) store a loaded gun in locked container.

If you normally train and carry with a loaded chamber, then I would argue against storing your defensive firearm in a different condition. If you store your defensive handgun condition 3, when you pick it up at 0-dark-thirty as Mongo is breaking down the door, are you going to remember that the chamber is empty? Train the way you fight and fight the way you train.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of trigger locks.
 
I bait antis with that all the time. When I debate them, I ask them if they are in favor of trigger locks on loaded firearms. Knowing nothing about firearms usually, they inevitably say yes.

I then lay into them about how dangerous that would be and then begin to grill them on the rules for safe handling of firearms. Inevitably they know nothing and thus I begin to educate them, recommending strongly that they take a firearms safety course BEFORE they spout off politically correct nonsense again.

Rarely do they ever want to lecture me about firearms again by the time we are finished speaking. [laugh]


Moderator said:
Trigger lock and a loaded gun is an accident waiting to happen.
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LenS said:
- AR trigger guard can easily be opened, I am told (I just looked at both of mine and it appears you need to use a punch), so some will question the legality.
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Tip of a bullet works perfectly on the AR trigger guard.

I'm not a MA resident so I won't speak on legalities, but I would use a quick opening gunsafe instead of a trigger lock if storing loaded. Something with a pushbutton combo would probably be best.

To easy to have an AD while trying to remove a trigger lock from a loaded firearm.

CD
 
JellyFish said:
I bait antis with that all the time. When I debate them, I ask them if they are in favor of trigger locks on loaded firearms. Knowing nothing about firearms usually, they inevitably say yes.

I then lay into them about how dangerous that would be and then begin to grill them on the rules for safe handling of firearms. Inevitably they know nothing and thus I begin to educate them, recommending strongly that they take a firearms safety course BEFORE they spout off politically correct nonsense again.

Rarely do they ever want to lecture me about firearms again by the time we are finished speaking. [laugh]
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And, I'll bet even more rarely do any of them ever go and find a firearms training course to take. People like that cannot, will not and must not be confused with the facts. If anything, they will ask for a shovel with a longer handle so as to bury their head deeper into the sand.[wink]
 
I'm in BIG trouble then I keep a 625 with spare moon clips in a nightstand next to my bed. Who has time to fiddle with safes trigger locks etc if some one is hammering your door down.BTW everything is locked up in a safe and those that are in hard cases that are locked and have parts removed that are in the safe and trigger locks to boot. when I'm not home safe is locked some have said "they'll steal the safe" well it took two guys the size of Lou Ferigno to get it into the house if bg can get it out they can have the contents
 
On that point I quote "better to be judged by twelve than carried by six"
I have no children and rarely have guests in my home and of late I'm home 24/7 as I said in my previuos post everything is locked up otherwise.
I'm not tring to be a smart ass here but if you live in a so so to terrible neighbohood what are your options/ As previously said trigger lock at ? in morning havn't seen a quick safe that looks quick to me again ? in the morning half asleep fumbleing for the right combo meanwhile your getting your skull or another part of your anatomy pounded to a pulp Not my Idea of the way to stay alive Damn I hate politticians
 
highlander said:
On that point I quote "better to be judged by twelve than carried by six"
I have no children and rarely have guests in my home and of late I'm home 24/7 as I said in my previuos post everything is locked up otherwise.
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No-one said the law was reasonable, rational or even designed to be so. You were simply told what the law was.

You are in violation of it. Your license, your call.
 
LenS said:
For others benefit, as I just spoke with the OP.

- Guns must all be locked at all times when not under direct control of licensed person.
Click to expand...

Is loaded in the night stand "under the direct control of the licensed person" if said licensed person is in the bed within arms reach of said night stand?

FWEIW ............ I use the gunvault, 3 seconds and your good to go!
 
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icyclefar said:
LenS said:
For others benefit, as I just spoke with the OP.

- Guns must all be locked at all times when not under direct control of licensed person.
Click to expand...

Is loaded in the night stand "under the direct control of the licensed person" if said licensed person is in the bed within arms reach of said night stand?
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If said properly licensed person is asleep, it would be darned hard to successfully argue that it was under his direct control, whether or not the gun was within arm's reach.

Darius Arbabi
 
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On that point I quote "better to be judged by twelve than carried by six"
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I recently heard of a situation that occured in metro-west town. This situation isn't a direct parallel, but it indicates how you can get into trouble by not following the letter of the law.

The chief in this town basically only issues Class A ALP. The licensing officer is pro-gun and reportedly an excellent shot (rumor has it he favors a .44 for target shooting).

An older gentleman in town had a nice collection of guns that he'd collected over the years. He didn't have them locked up -- there was only him in the house, so he saw no reason to do so.

He had some painting done in the house. The painters apparently saw the guns. A relatively short time after the painting was complete, burglars broke in and stole all the guns.

He reported the theft. The chief told him that he hated to do it, be he had to revoke the gentleman's LTC. The fellow was crushed.
 
Cross-X said:
icyclefar said:


If said properly licensed person is asleep, it would be darned hard to successfully argue that it was under his direct control, whether or not the gun was within arm's reach.

Darius Arbabi
Click to expand...


Asleep? Who's sleeping? The only way they could ever prove it would be to sneak into the bedroom without waking anyone, which would run a serious risk of death for a possible unsafe storage charge.

Ken
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The 1998 law was written with the EXPRESS INTENT as to NOT allow people to be able to readily defend their homes! Not without some contortions (opening safe or unlocking gun, loading gun, etc.). A major excuse used was to cut down the number of "accidental shootings" due to guns being in the open or easily reached by children . . . but the law is inflexible and even applies when no children live in or visit a home or where the only people living there are licensed.
 
KMaurer said:
Asleep? Who's sleeping? The only way they could ever prove it would be to sneak into the bedroom without waking anyone, which would run a serious risk of death for a possible unsafe storage charge.

Ken
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I agree the test case for this would be rather amusing.

There essentially would have to be some bizarre exigent
circumstance for the police to smash your window in or
sneak into your bedroom to -see- that you didn't have the
gun secured properly.

I suppose an admission of guilt by the LTC holder might also
be admissible? (if one is dumb enough to self incriminate) EG, some guy
thats not watching his words, after a break in attempt says something like "I
heard a noise that woke me up, I took my gun off the nightstand..."
It's a stretch but would not surprise me in this state if that got someone
an unsafe storage charge or possibly even the "death by unsuitable
person pet trick" deal.

IMO the biggest risk of leaving a gun out is that if someone FORGETS that
they left their gun there, and you leave the house without securing it.
Then if there is some exigent circumstance while you're away, eg
house gets broken into, fire, etc, then you're borked, especially if they
catch the thief and he bleats out on the stand that he "stole that gun
off the nightstand" etc.


-Mike
 
Dirtypacman said:
The question is do you want to gamble with the law or with your life?
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Kinda reminds me of this quote, from Spiro T Agnew, for some reason.

"Confronted with the choice, the American people would choose the policeman's truncheon over the anarchist's bomb. "


-Mike
 
Dirtypacman said:
The question is do you want to gamble with the law or with your life?
Click to expand...

I've heard it this way: You can get out of jail. You can't get out of the morgue.

Having said that, I would STRONGLY advise any and all to refrain for posting (or talking, for that matter) about violating the law. Personally, all my guns are stored safely, unloaded and under lock and key, just like the law states.

I'm just REALLY fast at unlocking safes and loading weapons.

And that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
 
Does the law state that a gun HAS to be stored unloaded if it is stored in a proper locked container? I've never seen a cite to support this.
 
Fooped said:
Does the law state that a gun HAS to be stored unloaded if it is stored in a proper locked container? I've never seen a cite to support this.
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For guns stored in a house, the term "unloaded" is not specified in the
law. A normal person would take it to mean that a gun in a secure container
could very well take it to mean that a loaded gun in said container is legally
stored. At least that's the way that I see it.

I havent seen or heard of any case law where someone was somehow
charged with having a loaded gun in a secure container, within a dwelling.

-Mike
 
KMaurer said:
Asleep? Who's sleeping? The only way they could ever prove it would be to sneak into the bedroom without waking anyone, which would run a serious risk of death for a possible unsafe storage charge.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. I had a client who suffered a "medical event." Cops come with the ambulance; standard procedure. Unsecured guns in home; charges filed, license revoked.

Charges were resolved because the cops in general and the chief in particular were not petty power-trippers, but the guns and license are gone. An this was a VERY reasonable chief.

Note that any emergency; fire, ambulance, or police response to your home, including one in your absence, could have the same result.
 
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- AR trigger guard can easily be opened, I am told (I just looked at both of mine and it appears you need to use a punch), so some will question the legality. I have done this and would continue to do so if necessary, but consider it a gray area in light of the recent court ruling (key to house and keeping guns "ultra secure").
Click to expand...

If you put the trigger lock on just the right way it covers that pin and you would be hard-pressed to move the lock to uncover it.
 
KMaurer said:
Cross-X said:
Asleep? Who's sleeping? The only way they could ever prove it would be to sneak into the bedroom without waking anyone, which would run a serious risk of death for a possible unsafe storage charge.

Ken
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Ken, as an NRA Training Counselor, I sure hope you did not intend that the comment you made above should be taken seriously.

It is very important that, as firearms instructors in MA, we never mislead the members in the forum.

A problem of proof is never a good reason to urge someone to try pressing their luck by falling asleep with an unsecured gun or guns stored in an unlocked container. In Massachusetts, this is a criminal offense. If the unsecured gun is a large capacity firearm, the crime committed is a felony.

The Massachusetts rule of firearms storage in the home or other building bears repeating: if a firearm is not under the control of a properly licensed person, it must be stored in a locked container or disabled by properly affixing a tamper resistent mechanical or other safety device designed to prevent use of the firearms by unauthorized, unlicensed individuals.

Gun owners in Massachusetts have enough to do just learning and following the law without being needlessly confused by idle NES banter.

Darius Arbabi


For those who wish to read it for themselves, here is the text of the pertinent law:

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.

-- Chapter 140: Section 131L. Weapons stored or kept by owner; inoperable by any person other than owner or lawfully authorized user; punishment
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As I understand the law, I am commiting a felony if I happen to fall asleep on the couch with my Glock 21 on my hip. As I am asleep, the firearm is not under my "direct control".

Has the phrase "direct control" ever been legally defined? Or is it still left open for interpretation?
 
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