On Aug 11, 2005, at 9:41 PM, Robert Woolley wrote:
Are there any U.S. jurisdictions where it is clearly unlawful to leave
a
pistol (loaded or unloaded) unattended in a car? If so, does it matter
whether the car is on private or public property when the gun is left
in it?
It depends what you mean by "clearly."
Up until about seven years ago*, Massachusetts General Laws 140 c. 131C
said:
"No person carrying a firearm or firearms under a license issued under
section one hundred and thirty-one or one hundred and thirty-one F
shall carry the same in a vehicle unless such firearm or firearms while
so carried therein is under the direct control of such person, and
whoever violates the foregoing shall be punished by a fine of not more
than one hundred dollars."
(Note: in Massachusetts law, the legal term "firearm" always means
"handgun" and does not include "long gun" unless specifically redefined
for the extent of a particular law.)
People have been prosecuted for leaving a handgun unattended in a
vehicle. The Middlesex DA's office published a circular to county LEOs
saying that this was a prosecutable crime.
However, case law in Massachusetts makes it clear that the definition
of "carry" requires movement:
Commonwealth v. Seay (1978)
Commonwealth v. Morse (1981)
Commonwealth v. Ashley (1983)
Commonwealth v. Osborne (1977)
Commonwealth v. Stallions (1980)
Commonwealth v. Ramirez (1990)
Particularly appropriate is Commonwealth v. Atencio (1963):
"The temporary possession of revolver by participants in game of
'Russian Roulette' during course of which revolver was passed from one
participant to another does not constitute carrying of firearm on
person whithin meaning of this section because idea conveyed by words
of statute 'carries on his person or under control in a vehicle' is
that of movement."
It is my opinion (and I have convinced lawyers of this) that there is
therefore actually no legal prohibition against the leaving of a
firearm unattended in a vehicle.
*The current version of the law can be found here:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/140-131c.htm . In 1997 or so, the
Legislature foolishly multiplied the number of different types of state
firearms licenses from two to five and a half, and made an absolute
dog's bed of the laws in an attempt to accommodate this micromanagment.
If you read the referenced URL, you will find, for example, that there
is absolutely no guidance as to the propriety of the owner of a Class A
License To Carry leaving an unloaded gun in his car. Furthermore, a
holder of a Class A license is still vulnerable to (improper)
prosecution for leaving his gun unattended in a car, but a holder of a
Class B license equally clearly is not. Sad to say, this is par for
the course for the doggerel created by the Massachusetts Legislature.
As far as whether there are exceptions depending on whose property the
car is on, the rule of thumb in Massachusetts is that if it's on your
property it's (probably) legal, but on anybody else's it's (almost
surely) not.
--
Escape the Rat Race for Peace, Quiet, and Miles of Desert Beauty
Take a Sanity Break at The Bunkhouse at Liberty Haven Ranch
http://libertyhavenranch.com
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