This is the basic state of the law from Commonwealth v. Reyes, 464 Mass. 245 (2013):
the "locked container" must make the firearm "secure." See
Commonwealth v. Parzick, 64 Mass. App. Ct. 846, 850 (2005);
State v. Wilchinski, 242 Conn. 211, 225 (1997) (construing "secure" to mean "preventing minors from gaining access to guns and on preventing them from being able to misuse the weapon"). In this regard, we agree with the Appeals Court that, as a general proposition, to be secure, "guns [must] be maintained in locked containers in a way that will deter all but the most persistent from gaining access."
Commonwealth v. Parzick, supra (door lock that was easily defeatable by using "bobby pin" did not prevent access to unauthorized persons other than owner and therefore was "not secure"). At a minimum, to be secure,
any qualifying container must be capable of being unlocked only by means of a key, combination, or other similar means.
18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(34)(C) (2006) (requiring "secure gun storage or safety device" be designed to unlock only by means of key, combination, or other similar means). Beyond this requirement, the types of containers that might qualify are plainly varied. Although not enumerated in the storage statute itself, several types of qualifying containers are identified in other Massachusetts and Federal statutes regulating the storage of firearms. These provisions provide significant guidance on the subject, and we can presume that gun owners are familiar with them because in order to obtain either a firearm
identification card or a license to carry a firearm in Massachusetts, a prospective gun owner must receive a basic firearm safety certificate after completing a course approved by the colonel of the State police. The curriculum of that course must cover "(a) the safe use, handling and storage of firearms; (b) methods for securing and childproofing firearms; (c) applicable laws relating to the possession, transportation and storage of firearms; and (d) knowledge of the operation, potential dangers and basic competency in the ownership and usage of firearms" (emphasis added).
G. L. c. 140, § 131P (b).
Statutory and regulatory references to acceptable containers include safes, weapon boxes, locked cabinets, gun cases, lock boxes, and locked trunks of vehicles. A leading secondary source, Law Enforcement Guide to Firearms Law (20th ed.
[*254] 2012), published by the Municipal Police Institute, Inc., states that a securely
locked container can include a soft gun case secured with a padlock, "as well as an expensive gun safe," and that even "glass front furniture style gun cabinets are acceptable providing that they are capable of being locked." Id. at 93.
Commonwealth v. Orlando, 371 Mass. 732, 734 (1977)
[omitted language related to whether a locked car is a locked container] A contextual reading of these statutory provisions, focused particularly on firearms in motor vehicles, leads us to conclude that the Legislature did not consider a locked motor vehicle itself to be a secure container for the storage of firearms.
This does not resolve whether a locked glove compartment might be adequate under the storage statute. We are of the view that it might depending on the particular factual circumstances including the nature of the locking mechanism, whether the
motor vehicle was also locked and alarmed, and ultimately whether in the circumstances it was adequate to "deter all but the most persistent from gaining access." This is a question of fact, properly decided by the fact finder at trial.