Massachusetts Gun Laws are Curious Things
On Wednesday evenings, I shoot on a bullseye pistol team. After shooting, we typically gather at the bar to discuss philosophy, higher mathematics, physics and other heady subjects (obviously, a bunch of over educated, elitists know-it-alls). I confess to being a blow-heart myself.
A few weeks ago, I was in a discussion with another shooter about transporting shotguns to the range. The other shooter stated that rifles and shotguns have to be unloaded and in a locked case while being transported. I disagreed and stated that, in Massachusetts, non-large capacity long guns only need to be cased during transport. He was so certain that he was correct that he very gentlemanly asked if I minded if he looked it up. Not only did I not mind, I encouraged him to look it up. I truly believe that, when it comes to gun laws, especially the confusing Massachusetts gun laws, that we must always check and double check to make sure that we always remain on the right side of the law. My friend was certain that he was right because when he and some other shotgunners went to Rhode Island for a shoot, they had to unload them a
nd put the guns in locked cases. And I agreed that the law required that their shotguns had to be unloaded and put in locked cases. What! Did I just contradict myself? NOPE!
In this case, we were talking about two different laws, Massachusetts v. Federal law. So under Massachusetts law, non-large capacity long guns only need to be unloaded and cased for transport within the state. When traveling to Rhode Island (or any other state, Federal law applies, specifically, the Firearms Owners Protection Act (FOPA). FOPA provides us with the lawful transportation of our guns across all states, provided that we can legally possess the firearms at both ends of the trip. So, here it is in summary, when transporting: Massachusetts – non-large capacity rifles and shotguns must be unloaded and cased, FOPA (transporting between states) – All guns must be unloaded and in a locked case – simple.
Note that for Massachusetts, I specified non-large capacity long guns but for the Federal law, I stated all guns. In Massachusetts, we complicate things. Our laws separate guns into three categories; firearms (legal definition-handguns and barrels less than 16 inches), long guns (rifles and shotguns), and large capacity weapons. So, as stated previously, non-large capacity long guns (rifles and shotguns) must be unloaded and cased. Firearms (think pistols), must be unloaded and in a locked case. Large capacity weapons (any hand gun or semi-automatic long gun with a magazine, attached or detached, which can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition) must be unloaded and in a locked case. Clear?, good!
But, you ask, am I not I legal when I carry my handgun loaded in a holster on my hip and drive all over the state including into the People’s Republic of Cambridge and the, better-to-be-a-victim-than-protect-yourself-with-a-gun, City of Boson? That depends on your License to Carry (LTC). Refusing simplicity, Massachusetts has two official types of licenses plus the option to place restrictions on the licenses. So, if you have an unrestricted License to Carry, you can legally carry a loaded handgun in your possession while traveling in Massachusetts with some limitations. Even with an unrestricted LTC, it is not legal to transport a loaded a rifle, shotgun or large capacity weapon in your possession, or otherwise.
When I started writing the previous section, I thought that it would take a paragraph, one and a half paragraphs at most. Four paragraphs later, I still have not mentioned everything about transportation of guns in Massachusetts. Although I had to use it above, I hate using the word weapon when I refer to guns as the term weapon encompasses much more than guns. Weapons includes such everyday items like knives, fists, trucks, cars, hammers, sickles and so very much more. But our ever creative law makers chose to redefine the word firearm to be only handguns or guns with a barrel less than 16 inches in length. So while the rest of the world calls firearms, well firearms, in good ole MA we can’t. Thus, the word gun means any type of gun and ,in Massachusetts legalese, weapon is mostly about guns and, of course, firearms are handguns. Pay attention, there will be a quiz on this later.
Well, you are probably thinking why the heck should I give a damn about all of this semantics stuff, that as they say, is what makes the grass grow. Well, it is funny how important words are in the law. Remember, ignorance is no excuse under the law. Read the wrong meaning into the Language of the law and you could find your world turned completely upside down. Especially in a gun unfriendly state like Massachusetts, we must be very careful to always take a conservative approach to protect ourselves from legal overreach.
Ok, let’s take a look at some other parts of the law.
Remember just a few lines above we discovered that the word firearm has special meaning under Massachusetts law. Well, our fantastic law makers decided back in ’98 that not all firearms are suitable or adequately safe for our purchase from dealers in Massachusetts. We should show our law makers greater appreciation as they work so diligently to protect us from ourselves. So they came up with testing requirements which must be satisfied by all firearms by an independent testing lab prior to the firearms being eligible for sale by a firearms dealer in the Bay State. The end results of the testing process is that the three guns submitted for testing are destroyed (well messed up) in the process. If the guns pass muster, then they are included on the Approved Firearms Roster which is one of four rosters which define the guns which our state government has approved for us. It is a good idea to note at this point that many fine manufacturers of excellent firearms refuse to submit their expensive firearms for destruction, I mean testing, thereby removing many fine products from our selections.
So, you would think, that making it onto the Approved Firearms Roster is enough, but oh no, not here where we must be protected from those underhanded firearms manufacturers. Enter the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office. Apparently soon after the creation of the approved rosters, the then Attorney General decided to further protect us using the consumer protection regulations. You know those are the regulations which are used to stop the sale of certain consumer products, like can openers, microwave ovens etcetera, after said product has maimed or killed a bunch of people. Well, ever vigilant to protect us the Attorney General’s office preemptively used its consumer regulations to further reduce the firearms available for purchase by adding more requirements for the manufacturers to include on the firearms. Many manufacturers tried to comply but not all were successful as the new regulations were not exactly clear. Thus, this additional hoop, some would say obstruction, further reduces the firearms for us to select for our collections. One example is Glock which is on the Approved Firearms Roster but is prevented from sale to us regular citizens in Massachusetts by the Attorney General’s undermining.
Of course, the final insult to the honest taxpayers of the Commonwealth is that law enforcement officers are exempt from the Attorney General’s regulations and can buy these firearms for themselves. They are also exempt from the Assault Weapons Ban, which, with little doubt, has not and will not prevent a single crime or injury but magnificently serves is sole purpose – to keep law abiding citizens from exercising their constitutional rights.
Ok enough pontificating. Just the facts from now on.
If you have a firearms license in Massachusetts and you move, you must report your new addresses to the Massachusetts Firearms Records Bureau, the police department where you are moving from and to the police department in your new town. Even if you are just moving within a municipality, you must still report your movement. You have 30 days to complete the reporting process and there is a simple form to use. By the way, in Massachusetts there are only two types of people who have to report to the police when they change address; sex offenders and firearms licensees. Perhaps there is a message in there. I seem to recall that a certain, to remain unnamed presidential candidate who did not win the election insinuated or maybe stated that all legal gun owners are essentially criminals.
When being stored, all guns must be kept in a locked container or equipped with a tamperproof locking device, such as a trigger lock. The exception is when the gun is under your direct control and you have an unrestricted License to Carry (LTC).
If you are transporting a firearm or a large capacity weapon, a trigger lock is not ok to use. The gun must be unloaded and in a locked container.
Ammunition storage is covered by the fire protection regulations. You can have up to 10,000 rounds of center fire ammunition and 10,000 rounds of rimfire ammunition and 5,000 rounds of shotgun ammunition without having a special storage permit which is issued by the local fire department. There are also limits on primers, black powder and more.
The law requires that ammunition be stored in its original box (Yes, this can be difficult if you reload.) and kept in a locked container. Oh, don’t forget that it is illegal to purchase ammunition in Massachusetts without a firearms license.
By Federal law, handguns must be purchased in your state of residency. Long guns can be purchased in any state.
Should you purchase a gun, you must report it to the state within seven days on the EFA10 form. Note that I am not making predictions, but in Australia, first firearms registration was required “for public safety”. Then, later, the registration list was used to identify, collect and destroy most of the privately held firearms in the country. Just making observations.
If you live in one of the many free states, after reading the above, your head must be ready to explode. It could be worse we could be in California, or New York or New Jersey.