Gun laws in Boston, Mass?

[Rodman579]

i will say this and its just my opinion so dont take it the wrong way as i am a gun owner and love guns. i make my living working on guns.

i am from Charlestown, grew up there and left when i was 24. if anyone knows that area back in the day it was rough. i never saw anyone flashing guns very often. most guys would fist fight or some one might tune you up if you were in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time. but being from there we all had the mentality if you used a gun you were a puss. i never felt as i needed a gun and i hung out in many bad areas. i was in the coffee truck business at the age of 17 working in Southie, that was another rough business but still only saw a gun pulled once. i am just saying i have lived there in the worst parts of it and never felt the need to be armed with a gun. i did always carried a louisville slugger behind the seat of my truck. when i left there it was starting to become yuppyville and things were starting to change slightly.

i live in the Florida now and have for quite sometime. now here i always have a gun with me. mainly cause the culture is different here, everyone has them and more than likely someone will use a gun rather than go toe to toe with you. plus where i live it would take at least 20 minutes before the police got here.

but anyhow i am just getting at that personally i would not feel the need to be armed if i was in New England again. everytime i go back which is at least twice a year i never feel the need to be carrying a gun. of course if i moved back there i would proudly own guns as i love shooting and competing.

i do think the gun laws in MA are alittle on the tough side but if you have ever lived there you know they make you jump through hoops to do anything up there, lol.

 

[Mastrogiacomo]

When I applied for a permit the police chief told me to study martial arts and use pepper spray because I didn't "know anything about guns." That was reason enough not to issue me a Class A. Meanwhile, this same person had a cop under his command that regularly beat up his mother. It was brushed under the rug for years. Eventually he put her in the hospital and she died not long after from the beating. Only then, when he was charged with manslaughter or murder - I don't recall which - and taken off duty. It always burns me that I obey the laws and have absolutely no record or history of violence but a cop is always assumed to be much better than me, and has more of a right to carry, because he has a badge and I don't. I do have a Class A now - and I'm still a nonviolent person. I guess that doesn't make me much of a gun owner in that police chief's eyes.....


Laura

 

[Rodman579]

Laura, i understand what you mean. i always respected the cops up there cause they could get away with murder, lol. i had relatives that married into my mothers side of the family and two of them were LE. them boys were all on the take and did as they pleased. i would never cross them.

 

[whalerman]

Mastrogio..I'm not sure what your point is on that gun list thing. Really, it doesn't mean you have anyone beat. It means they have YOU beat. Imagine, the Glock, safe enough for the police lawyers around the world, but not safe enough for a corrupt politician from MA. What was his name, Tom Riley? That's a name to remember. We have our Chuck Schumers and Bloombergs. When people make stupid decisions that effect freedom, I believe their names should be made famous. Thanks for adding one more to the list. Tom Riley. Keep up the fight.

 

[drsfmd]

No DTR in your residence.

But a non-resident can't exactly have a residence, can he? I don't think he would be covered doing this at a friend's house...

 

[Loosedhorse]

That's a reasonable question. However, I think any place where you are legally "in for the night," where your family would be tucked in and gathered, would fall under this concept whether it is a friend's house of a hotel room. The MA statute in question reads:

In the prosecution of a person who is an occupant of a dwelling charged with killing or injuring one who was unlawfully in said dwelling, it shall be a defense that the occupant was in his dwelling at the time of the offense and that he acted in the reasonable belief that the person unlawfully in said dwelling was about to inflict great bodily injury or death upon said occupant or upon another person lawfully in said dwelling, and that said occupant used reasonable means to defend himself or such other person lawfully in said dwelling. There shall be no duty on said occupant to retreat from such person unlawfully in said dwelling.

I don't think that all the possible meanings of "dwelling" have been sorted out by case law, but I would expect it to be about what I outlined above. IANAL.

 

[leadcounsel]

To anyone still interested in this thread, thank you for all of the responses. Very eye opening and informative.

I decided the law was too vague and left my gun at home. No need to risk being arrested for an otherwise lawful activity in an antigun state.

Visited Boston and it's a wonderful beautiful city. A real shame that a place born from the blood and sacrifices of true patriots has sunken to such an antifreedom level. I could never live there or anywhere in Mass. I enjoyed the city, checked out a lot of historic areas and the USS Constitution. Really a fun trip. Not sad to leave though.

Amazes me that in the USA an activity (possessing a gun, magazine, ammo, etc.) can be a felony in state XYZ but completely normal and legal in neighboring state ABC. Mind boggling and one would think that a 14th Amendment argument or Equal Protections Under the Laws argument would be successful...

 

[Loosedhorse]

Mind boggling and one would think that a 14th Amendment argument or Equal Protections Under the Laws argument would be successful...

Might be someday. Of course, you'd have to show that inability to possess a magazine without a license is violative of the 2A upheld in Heller. Heller admitted that certain prohibitions and qualifications were not in doubt.

It may be a "real shame" that we live in a country with such a benighted Supreme Court...but there it is.

 

[rajb123]

I'm a NY resident. I traveled to Mass on business for a few weeks in 2010 and I was not permitted to buy ammo, powder, bullets, brass, primers, etc. in Mass.

Apparently, you need a license to buy these common products that are readily available in all neighboring states. In the sporting goods stores, these items aer kept in locked cases!

...makes you wondewr what these pols were thinking when they passed these laws... I assume Teddy had something to do with this...

 

[zoom6zoom]

Possession of pepper spray requires an FID, so even that's denied to non-residents.

 

[Loosedhorse]

It's good and it's bad.

When I moved to MA, I asked how I could bring in my modest pistol collection and was told, "You need a license to carry." I clarified that I didn't want to carry a firearm, I just wanted to own my pistols legally.

There was a pause, then somewhat patient, somewhat exasperated ("Why do I always get the mentally chanllenged ones?") tone when he said, "Yes. You need a license to carry."

So, I got I license to carry. And now I carry. If he had said, "Just bring them in, nothing required" I don't know when or even if I would have started carrying.

 

[leadcounsel]

It's good and it's bad

With all due respect, I see NOTHING good about Mass approach to gun control. I see only negatives. Restricting law abiding folks from guns and ammo - ironically in one of the founding states to this free country - is absurd. Mass is no more or less safe than the other states that recognize the 2A, allow over the counter sales of ammo and guns, FTF sales, shall issue carry permits, etc.

But INDIVIDUALS are denied rights, and those are important rights to self defense. There is NOTHING more important, not property rights, not taxes, not speech, nothing...

 

[Little Wolf]

This whole thing sounds from the start like a set-up thread just to bash MA.

Good. Mass deserve to be bashed. I used to live there. His outrage is normal, natural, and good. The sad part is that there used to be a lot of "hunters" and gun owners that lived there. Most of them just rolled over without any resistance whatsoever.

as unpleasant as MA gun laws may be....they are pretty straight forward....

and asside from out pseudo-AWB....there are no restrictions on any ammo, caliber, or type of firearm.

WRONG, just WRONG! It sickens me how people that live in MA REFUSE to see just how bad their situation is. It's almost as if a subconscious delusion, "It's not that bad". The Attorney General has an entire list of handguns that are "banned". Any new handgun (pistol or revolver) that is to be sold in MA HAS To pass the attorney general's "safety test". Which is a mere subjective assessment of what guns he does and does not want the state's subjects to have. IE, glocks are banned, but state police can own and carry glocks (What the?).

Mass is the WORST state in the union when it comes to guns or self defense, period.

What other state do you need a FIREARMS permit to BUY, own, or carry a BB gun or pepper spray????

 

[Midwest]

What other state do you need a FIREARMS permit to BUY, own, or carry a BB gun or pepper spray????

New Jersey, Hawaii, Puerto Rico for starters...Pepper spray allowed in NJ with no permit

Pistol Permit needed for Pistol BB Gun in NJ
Firearms Permit ID Card needed for BB Gun rifle in NJ

Other states restrict BB Guns, and even pepper sprays...

 

[Little Wolf]

Ok, no permit for pepper spray.... Mass is worse.

Puerto Rico is not a US state.....