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July 12, 2013, 08:03 PM | #1 |
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Boston law regarding confiscation…
My wife’s uncle (actually great uncle) lives in Boston and I was shocked to hear that following a burglary report while they were out of town (no firearms were stolen), the police inquired if he owned any firearms. He said yes and they asked to see them and that is when they found them “improperly” stored. Improper was in the closet and under the bed with no trigger locks.
They immediately confiscated them and I’m assuming he lost his license to own firearms (not sure if that’s the case), but he was told he could not keep them and that he needed to sell them. I always thought a trigger lock was an infringement on my firearms but it’s disconcerting that law enforcement could confiscate under such circumstances. This is an older couple in their mid 70’s, but I would think a future break-in where bodily harm was done without the ability to defend oneself would be a hell of law suit. Fortunately his brother-in-law in Florida is going to purchase them at a discounted price, but this strikes me as a blatant infringement. The sad aspect is the history surrounding Boston and gun manufacturing… ROCK6 |
July 12, 2013, 09:28 PM | #2 |
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His mistake was letting them see them without a warrant. When you know you're in an anti-gun area, be smart and respectfully decline such a request. They might get a warrant, but they might not.
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July 12, 2013, 09:50 PM | #3 |
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I think the Heller decision, which specifically talks about the requirement to lock up firearms in the home being unconstitutional, would make this illegal.
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July 12, 2013, 10:05 PM | #4 | |
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No, his mistake was in not obeying the law concerning storage of firearms, which is very clear in Massachusetts:
Section 131L. (a) It shall be unlawful to store or keep any firearm, rifle or shotgun including, but not limited to, large capacity weapons, or machine gun in any place unless such weapon is secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device, properly engaged so as to render such weapon inoperable by any person other than the owner or other lawfully authorized user. For purposes of this section, such weapon shall not be deemed stored or kept if carried by or under the control of the owner or other lawfully authorized user.https://malegislature.gov/Laws/Gener...40/Section131l And if they told him that he had to sell them, that's not the generally accepted meaning of "confiscation." Definition of confiscation: Seizure and expropriation of private property by a government or its agency as a punishment for breach of a law. Quote:
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July 12, 2013, 10:19 PM | #5 |
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A federal district court in San Francisco reached the same conclusion as Vanya (appeal pending). Personally, I think these decisions are ridiculous and invasion of the right to keep and bear arms. Heller was quite clear that this meant operable firearms, and a firearm locked up in a case is not operable in the case of need. The DC law required the firearm to be locked up or disassembled with the ammo stored and locked up in a different room--this was held to be an unconstitutional infringement. Having to carry a firearm on your person or to lock it up at all other times serves no valid purpose except in the special case where there are minors in the house. And it seems as well a serious invasion of privacy. It is not like a locked case, one of those small gun safes, or a cable lock is going to prevent a burglar from stealing them either. A full blown gun safe is needed for that.
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July 12, 2013, 11:39 PM | #6 |
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Non Free state.
Somebody is surprised? |
July 12, 2013, 11:39 PM | #7 |
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Wow Vanya, great information.
It's amazing how much the courts deliberate down to the finest details. |
July 13, 2013, 12:45 AM | #8 | ||
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Quote:
The OP's great uncle had the opportunity to comply with the law. Now he has the opportunity to challenge the law in court if he is willing to spend the time and the considerable amount of money such a challenge would require. And given the ruling in Runyan, as cited by Vanya, a successful challenge is a somewhat doubtful proposition. The take home messages need to be: (1) understand the law; (2) you can not expect that the law will not be enforced; (3) even if you think the law is invalid or unconstitutional, comply with the law unless you are prepared to challenge the law in court. Quote:
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July 13, 2013, 12:50 AM | #9 | |
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"It is long been a principle of ours that one is no more armed because he has possession of a firearm than he is a musician because he owns a piano. There is no point in having a gun if you are not capable of using it skillfully." -- Jeff Cooper |
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July 13, 2013, 07:20 AM | #10 | |
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The only thing I would debate is the confiscation. They physically confiscated the firearms whether it was temporary or not, it is what it is regardless of the law. When will the nonsense bleed over to other "safety violations"? It's easy with gun owners to be a target, but when someone gets their car confiscated because it wasn't locked and could have been stolen and used as deadly weapon it may get attention...oh, and the individual would also lose their driver's license permanently and can never own another car. They are in no way financially able to fight the charge and as you mentioned, it's not a high probability to even win such a fight. As stupid as the law is, at least they do give you a year to "dispose" of the firearms. His brother in law in Florida will take possession and my wife's father is encouraging him to move to FL. So, in some places, you now have lost your pursuit of happiness and liberty...hopefully the sheep will wake up when life is no longer a right. ROCK6 |
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July 13, 2013, 08:02 AM | #11 | |
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"The wheels of justice grind slowly,but they grind exceedingly fine."
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July 13, 2013, 08:13 AM | #12 |
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A question for the more legally astute. For sake of argument and being a Monday-morning quarterback critic, if this situation occurred again and the home-owner called the police to report the burglary (again, no firearms involved), I would surmise that if asked about firearms in the house, you have no legal requirement to answer that question
I wouldn't necessarily want to lie, but if answered, could my wife's uncle just said it was irrelevant and that discussion should be at a later date with a warrant? I guess making the initial call to file a report would give them probable cause to search, but I would suspect there has to be some protection against incriminating yourself. I don't know, I just could see city ordnances like this spreading and putting the majority of ignorant gun-owners at risk... ROCK6 |
July 13, 2013, 08:13 AM | #13 | |
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Having made the mistake of not storing them properly, he had no duty to rat himself out. If the LEO didn't have a warrant, than he could come back with one, meanwhile the gent could lock his guns up. |
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July 13, 2013, 08:24 AM | #14 |
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I don't like the law and I hope it will be found unconstitutional. Until then, Frank, the law has been cited. The law specifies the punishment for violation thereof, which is a fine and/or imprisonment. The punishment does not mention having the guns confiscated or being forced to sell them, so how do the police (without benefit of any court action) get to assume custody of the guns and decree that he must now sell them?
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July 13, 2013, 08:45 AM | #15 | |
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A little more digging on the issue of confiscation:
Confiscation Facts Quote:
ROCK6 |
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July 13, 2013, 10:00 AM | #16 |
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The entire process of needing a permission slip from the state before even being allowed to purchase a firearm simply has to be unconstitutional in the wake of Heller and McDonald. It just hasn't been tested yet. It's not just Massachusetts. Connecticut has required a permission slip to purchase handguns (if you don't have a carry permit) for decades, and with their new law that now extends to long guns, as well. And I believe there are other states that won't allow the purchase of at least some types of firearms without a permission slip.
If you have to seek prior permission, it isn't a right. |
July 13, 2013, 10:51 AM | #17 | |
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The risk of a burglary or some other crime in your home, while rare, illustrates the importance to complying with things like firearm storage laws. If you report a crime on your property, the police can come to investigate and can search to the extent reasonably appropriate to the investigation.
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"It is long been a principle of ours that one is no more armed because he has possession of a firearm than he is a musician because he owns a piano. There is no point in having a gun if you are not capable of using it skillfully." -- Jeff Cooper |
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July 13, 2013, 10:57 AM | #18 | |
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The OP's great uncle needs a good law and should be addressing these points with his lawyer. Maybe the police did overstep their authority. Or maybe there are peculiarities of Massachusetts procedures that we're missing. Maybe such procedures, if they exist, are vulnerable to challenge. In any case, those are matters the OP's great uncle needs to take up in privileged communication with his legal counsel.
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"It is long been a principle of ours that one is no more armed because he has possession of a firearm than he is a musician because he owns a piano. There is no point in having a gun if you are not capable of using it skillfully." -- Jeff Cooper |
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July 13, 2013, 11:09 AM | #19 | |
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July 13, 2013, 12:51 PM | #20 | |
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I've been serving this country and protecting the Constitution for over 25 years, I just hope we don't wrap our selves in legal chains of bondage...when people start fearing the laws more than the law-breakers (or when law-abiding inadvertently becomes the law-breakers through ignorance), I start to feel our system is losing it's purpose. ROCK6 |
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July 13, 2013, 02:21 PM | #21 | |
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That said, there is still a difference between a requirement to register something after you've bought it, and needing permission from the state before you can buy it. I don't need a permission slip to buy an automobile ... but I do have to register it if I intend to drive it on public streets. Also, Heller preceded McDonald, and I think Alito was much more clear and direct in McDonald than Scalia was in Heller about stressing the point that self defense is the core right protected by the 2nd Amendment. Now that it has been determined by the highest court in the land that self defense is the core right, any law that requires obtaining the state's permission before purchasing the specified tool with which to exercise self defense has to pass a higher level of scrutiny, and I don't see how requiring people to ask permission to exercise a "fundamental" can withstand either intermediate or strict scrutiny. |
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July 13, 2013, 02:25 PM | #22 |
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And what you are usually told by the police after a burglary is to not expect that you will ever see your property again nor are they likely to catch them. So the great uncle got screwed twice.
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July 14, 2013, 08:57 AM | #23 |
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Would the fact that the house was a crime scene (the site of the burglary) negate the need for a warrant? If somebody breaks into your house, can the police not come in to look for clues, fingerprints, etc., without one?
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July 14, 2013, 11:42 AM | #25 |
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A burglary isn't the only issue. If there's a fire, not only do the fire fighters have to enter to fight the fire. After the fire, the fire marshal has to investigate to determine the cause of the fire. At least in my state, if the fire marshal has any doubts he'll call in investigators from the State Fire Marshal's office. Those investigators just happen to be sworn state police officers, complete with badges and guns.
I don't know if New York law has changed, but twenty or so years ago fire marshals in New York City were sworn law enforcement officers with guns and full arrest powers. I met a retired NYC fire marshal who described gun fights resulting from armed stakeouts of buildings deemed likely targets of arson. |
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