Storing a gun in a car trunk... MA laws?

[Lugnut]

According to MA laws:

Q: How do I transport a gun in my vehicle?
A: A person with a Class "A" LTC may transport a handgun loaded or unloaded on his person or under his direct control in the vehicle. If the handgun is not under his direct control, it must be unloaded and in a locked case, locked trunk or other secure container.

So... if I was CCW and then for some some reason I needed to put my handgun in my trunk... I'd need to unload it first? This is crazy.. how would one remove the magazine and unload the round in the chamber without looking conspicuous?

 

[Len-2A Training]

Do it in the car first, but not where they have surveillance cameras aimed at everyone!

Use a "pass-thru" to the trunk from the back seat so that nobody sees what you are doing/putting in there.

 

[BIG DAVE]

The laws are so confusing here.

 

[Len-2A Training]

The laws are so confusing here.

Welcome to My-Ass-achusetts!

 

[USMA-82]

The other option is keep a "locked container" under the seat. Just get one of the plastic storage cases that new guns come in (with a hole in the handle for slipping a lock through), and keep it under your seat at all times. When you need to disarm, unload in the car, put the gun in the locked container, and put the rounds in the glove box or other storage area. Then slip the box back under the seat. Make sure you lock the car when you leave!''

The law doesn't require that you must "put it in the trunk" - that would cause problems for us pickup and SUV drivers...

 

[Lugnut]

The other option is keep a "locked container" under the seat. Just get one of the plastic storage cases that new guns come in (with a hole in the handle for slipping a lock through), and keep it under your seat at all times. When you need to disarm, unload in the car, put the gun in the locked container, and put the rounds in the glove box or other storage area. Then slip the box back under the seat. Make sure you lock the car when you leave!''

The law doesn't require that you must "put it in the trunk" - that would cause problems for us pickup and SUV drivers...

Good idea. I'm just not too keen on the idea of loading and unloading in my vehicle. When I go home I put my loaded handgun in the safe- rounds in chamber and magazine. I do what I can to eliminate the possibility of an ND and keeping it loaded an holstered is the best IMO. But... we live in MA.

 

[Dirtypacman]

I have done this several times... pretty simple with a revolver to unload and make safe/lock but It sure does feel kind of strange sitting in a parking lot fiddling with your fire-arm.

The two times I have went to the PD Dept. was the worst, sitting in their parking lot making my gun safe could have put me in a pretty bad situation.
But thats the law and they ask for me to do it so I guess its nothing to be worried about.

 

[Len-2A Training]

The two times I have went to the PD Dept. was the worst, sitting in their parking lot making my gun safe could have put me in a pretty bad situation.
But thats the law and they ask for me to do it so I guess its nothing to be worried about.

Huh? What law is that?

Must be "Yossarian's Law"!

Unlike FL, there is NO MGL that prohibits CCW in a PD. No need to tell anyone . . . it is concealed isn't it? No need to ditch it in the car or make an issue of it.

 

[Adam_MA]

That's gotta be up there with the "Where you can't carry in MA myths" then. I heard the exact same thing just the other day at the gun shop.

Adam

 

[Len-2A Training]

I've never seen a sign in any PD and I've been in a lot of them.

I've never been questioned about firearms when in a PD, whether I was there for official business or not.

I stopped by a friend's PD (he was the chief and this was way up North of Boston) once after attending a gun auction and he took me out to show me the town. He picks up a call for a house burglar alarm going off (very expensive, upperclass town, much swankier than where I live) and we take the call. He goes around one side of the house and I head in the other direction, both meeting back in the front. He never asked if I was armed (I was) and I never questioned that he'd back me up if we got into something real!

I also did a very strange "ride-along" if you will one early morning in my own town, in civvies, again armed (CCW, the officer may have assumed but never asked and I never told). This was one of those very strange "lack of communication" issues between husband and wife that was very scary to me. I had gone off to a Table Lodge and my Wife had gone off to an auction at a local synagogue . . . I obviously did not pay attention to WHERE she said she was going . . . so the comedy of errors begins. I get home from Table Lodge and my Wife isn't home by midnight and I start getting concerned. I look around and find nothing that indicates which synagogue is holding the event (we had 3 in our town back then, and there were no cell phones back then). I call the PD and do a "courtesy request" that they put out a missing persons alert for the car/Wife . . . they are very reluctant as policy was that this wasn't done for at least 24 hours back then, but finally they do it and I head up to the PD to ride along looking for the car, worried that the worst possible scenario might have happened. I get the normal questions - had we had a fight/argument (no), might she have run away (no), etc. I had left a note on the kitchen table (and changed the recording on our answering machine) asking Deena to call the PD when she returned, that I was very concerned and was out looking for her.

We rode around the back streets, parking lots, all the synagogues in town, etc. NOTHING. Finally ~3AM the dispatcher lets us know that my Wife is home and called the PD. We head back to my house and the officer tells me to stay in the cruiser while he questions her. He asks her the same type questions - had she run away (no), had we argued/fought (no), was she in fear of me (no), etc. Then he gives me the all clear. We learn that she went to an all-night auction held at a synagogue in another town! I was much relieved and thankful to the officers and we head back to the PD for me to pick up my car. These are fellow officers that I worked with, but given the circumstances they did everything very professionally and never questioned me about being armed. My affiliation only helped in getting them to search for someone "early" rather than 24 hours later and they helped me keep my sanity as I was going nuts with fear and worry.

Being armed in a PD is NOT a problem (or illegal) in MA, UNLESS YOU ARE A PROBLEM!

 

[Adam_MA]

I would only caution, that some PD's if not all have a policy about being armed in certain places. It may only be if there are prisoners that are being processed, but when you walk into the area where they do the finger printing in the station in my town, there are these little lockers to put your gun in...

Adam

 

[Len-2A Training]

I would only caution, that some PD's if not all have a policy about being armed in certain places. It may only be if there are prisoners that are being processed, but when you walk into the area where they do the finger printing in the station in my town, there are these little lockers to put your gun in...

Adam

Adam has a good point. Last time I was in our booking area, guns were only off limits IF you were processing a prisoner. Any other time it was a non-issue. But I haven't been in that area in many years and not under our current chief.

For LTC issuance, they have a fingerprint pad on the secretary's desk upstairs. So only LEOs and prisoners ever get to see the booking area in our PD.