Trigger locks on 1860 Army

News Shooter

News Shooter

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Chapter 140: Section 131L. Weapons stored or kept by owner; inoperable by any person other than owner or lawfully authorized user; punishment

(f) This section shall not apply to the storage or keeping of any firearm, rifle or shotgun with matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap or similar type of ignition system manufactured in or prior to the year 1899, or to any replica of any such firearm, rifle or shotgun if such replica is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition.

This means I could keep my 1860 Army in a holster in my house without a trigger lock right?
 
Yup. I keep my musket proudly displayed over the fireplace, without any unsightly trigger lock, which I believe is exactly the reason they put that clause in there.
 
News Shooter said:
Chapter 140: Section 131L. Weapons stored or kept by owner; inoperable by any person other than owner or lawfully authorized user; punishment

(f) This section shall not apply to the storage or keeping of any firearm, rifle or shotgun with matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap or similar type of ignition system manufactured in or prior to the year 1899, or to any replica of any such firearm, rifle or shotgun if such replica is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition.

This means I could keep my 1860 Army in a holster in my house without a trigger lock right?
Click to expand...

Right.

UNLESS it is loaded. A loaded, unlocked gun is hardly "inoperable."
 
Scrivener said:
Right.

UNLESS it is loaded. A loaded, unlocked gun is hardly "inoperable."
Click to expand...

I'm probably foolish to be trying to argue with Scrivener, but... so what if it's "inoperable" or not? Doesn't paragraph (f) indicate that nothing in that section, including the "inoperable" term, applies to these older guns?

Not that I'm advocating keeping a loaded gun of any kind lying around without good reason, I'm just ignorantly attempting to read what the law says.
 
A loaded, unsecured firearm is an invitation to disaster, especially here. A charge of reckless endangerment could be brought, leaving the gun owner to argue the exemption in the statute as a defense.

Not my idea of a perfect test case.
 
Scrivener said:
A loaded, unsecured firearm is an invitation to disaster, especially here. A charge of reckless endangerment could be brought, leaving the gun owner to argue the exemption in the statute as a defense.

Not my idea of a perfect test case.
Click to expand...

Gotcha, I can definitely agree with that.
 
69hdfl said:
Come on now, do I really have to explain it to you? [shocked] Never mind. [rolleyes]
Click to expand...

Yup, give me one good reason to leave a loaded gun around with no good reason. [wink] I think you're missing the context of my original point; Keeping a loaded pistol by your bed, good reason. Keeping a loaded musket over your fireplace, no good reason.
 
jdubois said:
Not that I'm advocating keeping a loaded gun of any kind lying around without good reason,
Click to expand...
Keeping a loaded gun of any kind lying around for protection if needed, is always a good reason, No? In this sh*t-hole of a state it is illegal, but ask someone with no children who lives in say, Arizona where he keeps his loaded gun for protection? I bet more times than not it wont be in a safe, and if all I owned for protection was muzzle load rifle, while living in a free state, I sure as hell would have it loaded. Wouldn't you? [wink] [smile]
 
69hdfl said:
Keeping a loaded gun of any kind lying around for protection if needed, is always a good reason, No? In this sh*t-hole of a state it is illegal, but ask someone with no children who lives in say, Arizona where he keeps his loaded gun for protection? I bet more times than not it wont be in a safe, and if all I owned for protection was muzzle load rifle, while living in a free state, I sure as hell would have it loaded. Wouldn't you? [wink] [smile]
Click to expand...

You're preaching to the choir, dude [wink]

I was talking about keeping a loaded gun around *WITHOUT* good reason. You're talking about keeping one around *WITH* good reason. Even if I were in a state that let me have unlocked loaded guns in the house, I wouldn't have any more than I felt necessary to protect myself, and I'd think long and hard about where I had them.
 
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jdubois said:
You're preaching to the choir, dude [wink]

I was talking about keeping a loaded gun around *WITHOUT* good reason. You're talking about keeping one around *WITH* good reason.
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I'm not preaching to anyone dude, you asked.
Relax, All I was getting at in my original post was the fact that people in free states, don't look at loaded and unlocked guns like the A-hole liberals in this state, get it? [smile]
 
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Didn't the pols change the laws on muzzle loaders when someone noticed that some muzzle loaders in the state house proper had no trigger locks per the law?
 
jdubois said:
Yeah, done is good. I'm not even sure what we're arguing about [rofl]
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I'm not arguing. [grin]
I grew up in a household (many moons ago) with a father who was A LEO. He used to come home and drop his gun belt at the dining room table and that's where it stayed, till his next shift. Neither I nor my sister ever played with or messed with it. We were taught to respect it for what it was, a WEAPON that kills. I feel kids don't learn this lesson these days. I think people in free states have kept up with teaching these lessons (reason for different attitude) instead of locking away anything that could potentially hurt others.
Don't get me wrong, I believe in safe practices, but I feel this state has gone overboard.
Damn it! I say bring back lawn darts and fireworks [rofl]
 
highlander said:
Didn't the pols change the laws on muzzle loaders when someone noticed that some muzzle loaders in the state house proper had no trigger locks per the law?
Click to expand...
You could be right, I noticed today while reading the some laws, the wording on "loaded" looked different than the wildlife abstracts. The abstracts states "Firearm is considered unloaded when cap or pan powder is removed".
MGL Chapter 269: Section 12D.For purposes of this section, “loaded shotgun or loaded rifle” shall mean any shotgun or rifle having ammunition in either the magazine or chamber thereof, such ammunition including a live cartridge, primer (igniter), bullet or propellant powder designed for use in any firearm, rifle or shotgun and, in the case of a muzzle loading or black powder shotgun or rifle, containing powder in the flash pan, a percussion cap and shot or ball;
I called and spoke to an EPO (big mistake) and he said "bla bla bla
unload it completely by firing it, and you'lle have no trouble with someones interpretation of the law". He couldn't tell me if the law had changed, jeezzz.
 
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69hdfl said:
Don't get me wrong, I believe in safe practices, but I feel this state has gone overboard.
Click to expand...

I'm in 100% agreement there. I never like the government (or anybody else) poking around in my private business. If I f*** up, then you can punish me. Otherwise, butt the hell out.
 
The State of Massachusetts said:
in the case of a muzzle loading or black powder shotgun or rifle, containing powder in the flash pan, a percussion cap and shot or ball;
Click to expand...


How can I have powder in the flash pan AND a percussion cap? And what about powder in the barrel? Great... another badly written law.
 
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jdubois said:
(aah, you took the law quote out of your post, so now nobody will know what I'm talking about! Ignore this post [smile])
Click to expand...
Sorry, I put back what I found. The MA wildlife Abstracts do have a disclaimer,
Caution: Massachusetts public safety laws define primitive arms differently from the laws and regulations
of MassWildlife
Click to expand...

That says it all.[smile]
 

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