Question about traveling through Mass and staying for one night

[seank80]

I am a New York resident and have my pistol permit. I am traveling to Vermont for vacation and want to bring my pistol. On the way back down we are traveling through Mass to go to Battleship Cove to see my Wifes Grandfathers Battleship. If I keep the handgun locked in a lockbox seperate from the ammo is this legal? I am traveling in a SUV. I know I should probably leave it at home but I was just curious about the opinion of the forum. Thanks guys.

 

[revolverboy]

Locked, secure & unloaded are the ways to transport. If you were "traveling" & not visiting then you would be covered under the Firearms Ownwers Protection Act. But since you're "stopping" (Battleship Cove is not near Vermont or NY State) you would not be covered under that.

Having said that IF you get pulled over & they ask, what you tell them is up to you. In MA, you do not have to tell the police if you have a firearm in the car.

 

[NRA NDN]

It is an automatic jail sentence for anyone caught with a firearm in Massachusetts without a valid Massachusetts Firearms License or Firearms ID. I know one man stopped for a traffic violation. He had an unloaded handgun in his van locked in a box. He was sweating when the cop wanted to see what was in the box. His family then had to visit him in the county jail for the next year. Now the sentencing is 2 to 5 years I think. I would not recommend it.

For your entertainment.

General Laws: CHAPTER 269, Section 10

 

[sambo42xa]

REVOLVERBOY- He said, "on the way back down"....which is going back home from VT and through MA. Either way I still agree with your statement, but not quite the last sentance. I'm still searching to get the correct answer still if it's a law in MA to let an officer know or not.

Locked, secure & unloaded are the ways to transport. If you were "traveling" & not visiting then you would be covered under the Firearms Ownwers Protection Act. But since you're "stopping" (Battleship Cove is not near Vermont or NY State) you would not be covered under that.
NRA NDN- I'm not disagreeing with anything you stated, but I think there is more to the story.

Having said that IF you get pulled over & they ask, what you tell them is up to you. In MA, you do not have to tell the police if you have a firearm in the car.

 

[JohnD13]

The chances are that you would make the trip without incident. But if something were to occur, Massachusetts takes a dim view of non residents having handguns with them. They also seem to have a mandatory jail sentence for that infraction of their rules.

 

[snatale42]

I am a New York resident and have my pistol permit. I am traveling to Vermont for vacation and want to bring my pistol. On the way back down we are traveling through Mass to go to Battleship Cove to see my Wifes Grandfathers Battleship. If I keep the handgun locked in a lockbox seperate from the ammo is this legal? I am traveling in a SUV. I know I should probably leave it at home but I was just curious about the opinion of the forum. Thanks guys.

Make it easy for yourself, go by fact, not opinion. FOPA will NOT cover you if you stop outside of rest stops/gas etc. Site Seeing takes FOPA out of the equation. I'm sure you'll have no problems but the FOPA applies to Interstates and rest stops off of them. If this may become a regular trip for you, may be worth getting a Non-Res MA permit. It'll probably be a restricted one, but you wouldn't have to fear bringing guns through the state of stopping with them.