Storing A Gun Out Of State?

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loiosh

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My brother is moving to MA from a state without an assault weapons ban. He will probably only be here for about two years. He owns several firearms that are banned in MA. Once he gets his license in MA can he keeps those guns stored out of state? Does he have to do a FA-10 even though the guns are not located in MA?

Also, while I am thinking about the whole subject, I know MA requires you to do a FA-10 for any guns that you purchase outside of MA and bring back into the state. Can a MA resident purchase a banned assault weapon out of state and then keep the weapon stored outside of MA?
 
Welcome to the forum. Please go to your User CP and modify it to show ALL THREADS, it will help you find other similar topics.

Meanwhile do a Search here of all posts in Gun Laws forum for some keywords and you'll find this has all been discussed numerous times.

Briefly:

- So called semi-auto "assault weapons" (and newly made hi-cap mags) that are banned in MA can NOT be brought into MA by anyone for any reason (felony).

- When you move into MA, IF you bring your guns (that are legal to possess here) with you, you do NOT need to do any FA-10s. If you bring the guns in AFTER you have moved in and got your LTC, then you MUST file a FA-10 on EACH GUN!

- MA ONLY cares about guns that are in MA. If a MA resident buys a long gun in another state and leaves it in another state, NO FA-10 form is required.

If you'll do a search here you will learn more about this, but the above should answer at least your basic questions.
 
loiosh said:
My brother is moving to MA from a state without an assault weapons ban. He will probably only be here for about two years. He owns several firearms that are banned in MA. Once he gets his license in MA can he keeps those guns stored out of state? Does he have to do a FA-10 even though the guns are not located in MA?

Also, while I am thinking about the whole subject, I know MA requires you to do a FA-10 for any guns that you purchase outside of MA and bring back into the state. Can a MA resident purchase a banned assault weapon out of state and then keep the weapon stored outside of MA?
Click to expand...

Len covered these questions from the Massachusetts end, but a couple of them depend primarily on other laws. Whether your brother can legally store firearms in his previous state of residence will be controlled entirely by the aws of that state. As to the purchase of a firearm in another state, federal law permits such purchases (for rifles and shotguns only, no handguns), provided that the purchase does not violate state law in either the state of purchase or of residence. Whether the wording of the Massachusetts "assault weapon" ban would apply to a purchase made in another state even if the gun never entered Massachusetts is a question that I certainly wouldn't attempt to answer, and one for which I doubt there is any hard answer, since there's almost certainly no case law on the question.

Ken
 
As Ken pointed out (and I avoided that intentionally in my reply, since it is such a gray area):

- It's perfectly legal for the buyer to do. I understand that inmates in CA do it all the time in NV and store the guns there. It is one of the premises on which FrontSight built their business in NV.

- A strict reading of the Fed Law would say that the dealer who did this would be in violation of Fed Law.

- An easy out is, at least for things like ARs and AKs, buy the lower, build it up yourself in "no ban" configuration and store it in a state where such things are allowed. Nobody violated any laws in doing this.
 
Here's the controlling statute:

G.L.c. 140, § 131M. Assault weapon or large capacity feeding device not lawfully possessed on September 13, 1994; sale, transfer or possession; punishment.

No person shall sell, offer for sale, transfer or possess an assault weapon or a large capacity feeding device that was not otherwise lawfully possessed on September 13, 1994. Whoever not being licensed under the provisions of section 122 [sales license] violates the provisions of this section shall be punished, for a first offense, by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than ten years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and for a second offense, by a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $15,000 or by imprisonment for not less than five years nor more than 15 years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to: (i) the possession by a law enforcement officer for purposes of law enforcement; or (ii) the possession by an individual who is retired from service with a law enforcement agency and is not otherwise prohibited from receiving such a weapon or feeding device from such agency upon retirement.

Notice the complete and utter absence of ANY language that says WHERE the "assault weapon" was legally possessed; only the date by which it had to be possessed. That is because the Mass. ban parrots the federal ban, which was national in scope.

Ergo, IF it is a "pre-ban" gun AND your brother obtains the requisite LTC, he should be able to legally possess it in this state.

IF.......
 
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