crossing the border.
I drove my brother down to Boston yesterday for his return flight to Germany. It was kind of odd to come back to Boston after ten years--I didn't have any problem at all finding my way around, but some features were definitely not there in 1997. The Mystic River bridge was a new one to me, for example.
Apparently, MA passed some new and (more) draconian gun law that stipulates a mandatory year in jail for anyone caught with an unlicensed pistol there, loaded or unloaded, in your person or in the vehicle. "Unlicensed" means "not accompanied by both a Massachusetts FOID and a home state permit, and not locked in a triple-locked safe at least two zip codes away from its ammunition." They don't recognize NH Pistol Permits, of course.
This may seem a cowardly cop-out from the guy who once wrote an essay called "A Declaration of Civil Disobedience", but we can't currently afford for me to take an unpaid year-long hiatus, so I grudgingly disarmed before driving into MA.
I don't know that the justice system of a state deserves that kind of title when they are perfectly willing to take a year of someone's life for the offense of having the wrong piece of steel in our possession. Then again, all the states have even higher penalties for possessing the botanical equivalent of a bottle of vodka, so we're already a very long way down the slippery slope of victimless crime enforcement. Sadly enough, part of the reason for that is the cheerful consent of people who defend their gun rights tooth and nail, yet don't bat an eyelash when their neighbor gets hauled in and locked up for ten years because he grew some funny tobacco in his basement.
I hate to be a pessimist, but I look at the way things are going, and I have to concur with Tam. A storm is coming, and it's going to catch a lot of folks in the open.
Marko,
The mandatory year in jail law was written quite some time ago - at least 20 years or more.
You could always apply for a MA non-resident permit. Of course, it's $100, only good for a year, and there's no guarantee you'll get it.
MA. Live free or here...
Jay G said...
11:30 AM
The ONLY reason that I would ever drive through MA these days is that the federal government has overruled their objections and allowed the L33t (cops) to carry throughout the states. I don't like it. But at least I can pass through with the ability to protect my loved ones in a state that only gives four years to a guy who nearly kills a clerk with a bat during a robbery, but would have demanded 20 if he had a gun and never shot it. Or a year if he simply drove across a bridge in possession of a gun, but not a laminated card.
Matt G said...
1:00 PM
Then again, all the states have even higher penalties for possessing the botanical equivalent of a bottle of vodka
Naw; Here in OR, and I think also in AK, it's decriminalized, at the state level. Possession of smallish amounts gets you a ticket, not jail time.
Then again, OR is also pretty good on guns, especially compared to MA or CA.
(I think it's hilariously stupid that there's still a federal law against traffic/interstate sales of automatic knives.)
Sigivald said...
3:43 PM
Mass FOID?? I was under the impression that Illinois was the only state that required a FOID. Does it work similar to the Illinois FOID? An Illinois state resident must possess a FOID to own, operate or purchase a firearm, ammunition or magazines. It is not a license to carry (open or concealed).
Wild Deuce said...
5:02 PM
The Bartley-Fox act... been around for about 30 years. It works great! Just ask "Stix" Addison, the piece of feces sitting in jail awaiting trial for shooting Manchester, NH cop Michael Briggs. Stix tried to shoot up his school not long before he became NH's first capital murder trial in decades. Obviously Stix had a LTC in Mass because his firearm possesion charge was plead down to a BJ for the Suffolk Cty DA instead of a year in the joint.
Good ol' Massachusetts, where brains and passengers in Kennedy family cars go to die
The Farmer said...
9:00 PM
New Joizy has one, too. It is an elite club.
Don Gwinn said...
9:22 PM
So they just ignore FOPA '86 in MA, do they?
Tam said...
5:50 AM
Many states ignore federal law, and dare folks to go ahead and sue them.
Money and judges are on their side.
I avoid states that make self defense illegal, and make a point of not even sending money their way if possible.
I very rarely ever deal with a company based in New Jersey for example, and I let them know why.
Who is..... Carteach0? said...
9:36 AM
I'm the same way about IL. I will not do business with firms located there if there is another option. (
...If the budget allows, however, I am told a non-resident MA FOID is likelier to be granted than a resident one, the difference being the LE agency that processes the ap. (State police for out of state and locals for residents). OTOH, I don't think IL allows non-residents to have FOIDs.
It'd be a nice touch if states with carry permits would recognize the IL FOID as a carry permit in their states. It's at least as diffcult to get as most such permits. Better still if there was full recipricity. Best? All states go "Vermont carry!"
Roberta X said...
4:49 PM
Massachusetts gun laws made watching 'The Departed' interesting. I never could decide if the side to root for was the Mass. State Police or Jack Nicholson and the mob boys. I kinda leaned towards Jack.
Walt said...
12:50 PM
Hard to believe that Mass. was the home to the Adamses, the Tea Party and The Shot Heard Round the World.
Be nice if history were to repeat itself but the Massholes keep electing socialistic nany staters to office.
joated said...
11:27 AM
Technically, FOPA wouldn't apply, as his destination was in MA.
I still have no intention of ever setting foot in MA, even if only to pass through. Which is, honestly, probably just fine with MA.
perlhaqr said...
12:55 PM