“Uhhhh…license?”

With the Holiday season here, many, such as myself, return home to family and loved ones. While at home we do many, sometimes too many, family activities. Some, such as myself, who enjoys shooting, travel to gun ranges with their fathers over the holidays to have some father-son, father-daughter, etc. time. However if you plan on transporting any weapon across the state of Massachusetts this holiday season, there are a few things you should know about before you load up the car with your favorite rifles or pistols and head to the gun range to see if you have better accuracy than your old man. (Picture of guns taken by Svadilfari)

In Massachusetts it is illegal for someone to be in possession of a firearm, loaded or unloaded, or even in their vehicle unless they and the firearm are on the persons residence or place of business, or they have a license to possess and carry the firearm. Failure to comply with this law can result in being sent to State prison for a minimum of 2 and a half years and a maximum of 5 years. Or you could be sentenced to 18 months to 2 and a half years in a house of correction. That is a heavy sentence and has been laid down upon recreational shooters who were transporting their recreational firearm through the state.

This law does not only apply to firearms. The state has listed many things which are considered dangerous weapons (some of them a little absurd) but nonetheless the State has deemed that you can’t possess them. If any of the about to be mentioned items are found on you or in your car you could be facing a 2 to 5 year state prison sentence or 6 months to 2 and a half years in a house of corrections. Some of the weapons are as follows: a dagger or any form of knife; a sling shot (kinda silly); a blowgun; brass knuckles; nunchucks; a throwing star; batons; and those leather armbands with spikes on them that you see punk rockers wear. So beware if you receive a slingshot for a present this holiday season, because if you are found in possession of it in public or it is in your car, you could be facing a somewhat silly jail sentence. I would comment further on how some of these “weapons” I listed and didn’t list aren’t really dangerous weapons but that would take up several pages at least.

If you do have a firearm and you are not licensed to have one, I strongly suggest you take a Massachusetts firearm license and training course as required by the state. There are many to choose from and all are pretty reasonably priced. Such a class would be a great gift to give this holiday season to the family member who enjoys recreational shooting. After all it’s a lot cheaper than having to deal with the legal costs associated with defending that family member if they are caught in possession of a firearm without a license in Massachusetts.

Blog Post Written By Andrew Kussmaul