Practical Implications of H4885 for Purchasing and Possessing

The bad thing happened somewhere it isn't bad. Then it reduces the impact to 1 party maybe.

Regardless it's nearly unenforceable, unless the people involved in this "heinous crime" are really, really stupid. 🤣

There is no shortage of stupid people, and even more who cannot STFU, they just gotta tell someone something.
 
Is it illegal to leave a standard capacity magazine (unloaded) unsecured somewhere?
The law only speaks to traveling “to or from” so implying travel.

I think it doesn’t matter where you leave it on your private property but everything in Ma has the possibility of being illegal.
 
The law only speaks to traveling “to or from” so implying travel.

I think it doesn’t matter where you leave it on your private property but everything in Ma has the possibility of being illegal.

I’m wondering if you can just set it down somewhere without being responsible for someone else picking it up.
 
Only the carve outs for law enforcement exist.


122B

(c) The club shall:
(i) not permit shooting at targets that depict human figures, human effigies, human silhouettes or any human images thereof, except by public safety personnel performing in line with their official duties;
And that won't even allow a LEO to practice on his/her own time at such clubs. However, MA police have gone PC and only use the FBI Q target for qualifications since at least 2000. Those targets are shaped like a milk bottle. So there will be no conflict with the law.

Back when I was a police officer we used B-27 targets for qualification. And I practiced on those same targets almost every week on my own time and dime.
 
Don't know and don't care.
I think anyone considering violating this law SHOULD care.

Back in the day, in many jurisdictions, I believe that possession of a small amount of marijuana was a civil infraction that wasn't arrestable. I suspect in this new law that illegally importing a standard capacity magazine into MA will be a felony. As you know, a felony conviction makes someone a federally prohibited person.

Anyone considering violating a law should have a very good understanding of what they are risking. It's easy to say "no one will ever know" or "it will be unenforceable". Maybe that's true. Maybe it's not. But it sure as hell would suck to be the test case.
 
What was the penalty for a small amount of weed back in the day? What is the penalty for illegal importing a standard cap magazine under the new law?
Have two standard mags?
5 year minimum

And law enforcement are exempt from 131m so they can personally own, carry and transfer ASF and LCFD without a care in the world.
(d) Whoever violates this section shall be punished, for a first offense, by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not less than 1 year nor more than 10 years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and for a second offense, by a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $15,000 or by imprisonment for not less than 5 years nor more than 15 years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(e) This section shall not apply to transfer or possession by:
(i) a qualified law enforcement officer or a qualified retired law enforcement officer, as defined in the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004, 18 U.S.C. sections 926B and 926C, respectively, as amended;

(ii) a federal, state or local law enforcement agency; or
(iii) a federally licensed manufacturer solely for sale or transfer in another state or for export.
 
Would this be a way to overwhelm the system and turn their databases into a giant haystack? Register blocks of aluminum as AR's, register metal tubes as sten guns, register blocks of plastic as p-80's? Hundreds of guys doing hundreds a week
Storage is cheap and you pay for it anyhow so they couldn't possibly GAS.
Register a block of metal - better have a big safe to lock up all of the bullshit you register.
Why? Because you declared it was a firearm by registration and the storage law doesn't discriminate between items that can or cannot fire a round.
 
Have two standard mags?
5 year minimum

And law enforcement are exempt from 131m so they can personally own, carry and transfer ASF and LCFD without a care in the world.
So first offense is a misdemeanor

See posts below. The first offense is a felony. A felony conviction would be life changing, even if you didn't serve any jail time. In contrast, I believe most of the penalties for simple possession of a small amount of marijuana were either civil or misdemeanors.
 
Last edited:
So first offense is a misdemeanor but the second offense is a felony. A felony conviction would be life changing, even if you didn't serve any jail time. In contrast, I believe most of the penalties for simple possession of a small amount of marijuana were either civil or misdemeanors.
Not that it matters, but I was talking about transferring joints. Under this new gun law, the possession of the grandfathered "joints" is legal.

I follow my moral compass and try to treat people how I want to be treated. But, I'm done trying to follow the innumerable BS laws enacted by the ruling class. It's really all about not getting caught at this point. If you get caught, you already lost.
 
So first offense is a misdemeanor but the second offense is a felony. A felony conviction would be life changing, even if you didn't serve any jail time. In contrast, I believe most of the penalties for simple possession of a small amount of marijuana were either civil or misdemeanors.
Look at the maximum sentence
MisdaFelony.
No mo guns fa yah...

Oh, and each magazine is an offense.
So if you have two might as well buy a pallet.
 
Have two standard mags?
5 year minimum

And law enforcement are exempt from 131m so they can personally own, carry and transfer ASF and LCFD without a care in the world.

It’s nothing really new though. 1st offense with the current law is max $10000 or max 10yrs. 2nd offense is max $15000 or max 15yrs. New law just sets a minimum.

Either way you’re still effed.
 
Look at the maximum sentence
MisdaFelony.
No mo guns fa yah...

Oh, and each magazine is an offense.
So if you have two might as well buy a pallet.
Oh, I misread that. It looks to me that the first offense is actually a felony (punishable by up to 10 years in prison).
 
Only the carve outs for law enforcement exist.


122B

(c) The club shall:
(i) not permit shooting at targets that depict human figures, human effigies, human silhouettes or any human images thereof, except by public safety personnel performing in line with their official duties;
Right, but that is for a Club LTC if I remember correctly. I honestly haven’t had time to find and read through the existing law
 
I think anyone considering violating this law SHOULD care.

Back in the day, in many jurisdictions, I believe that possession of a small amount of marijuana was a civil infraction that wasn't arrestable. I suspect in this new law that illegally importing a standard capacity magazine into MA will be a felony. As you know, a felony conviction makes someone a federally prohibited person.

Anyone considering violating a law should have a very good understanding of what they are risking. It's easy to say "no one will ever know" or "it will be unenforceable". Maybe that's true. Maybe it's not. But it sure as hell would suck to be the test case.

I think every infraction, or damn near, results in the same possible sentence up to 2-1/2 years. Shocking for sure.
 
I think every infraction, or damn near, results in the same possible sentence up to 2-1/2 years. Shocking for sure.
No. It is up to 10 years for a post-ban standard cap mag. While I don't think you would get that much time, either way it would be a felony conviction and lifetime prohibition.
 
Right, but that is for a Club LTC if I remember correctly. I honestly haven’t had time to find and read through the existing law

Yes, you are correct in that licensed clubs (not many out there) have that restriction so to answer your original question those clubs that have a LTC for LCFD and ASFs cannot use humanoid targets according to 122B of 140.

Let’s say I show up to my club and bring a human silhouette steel target and then take it down to go home. No problem. This goes for an incorporated club as well without a license to store ammo, lcfds, and guns.
 
Yes, you are correct in that licensed clubs (not many out there) have that restriction so to answer your original question those clubs that have a LTC for LCFD and ASFs cannot use humanoid targets according to 122B of 140.

Let’s say I show up to my club and bring a human silhouette steel target and then take it down to go home. No problem. This goes for an incorporated club as well without a license to store ammo, lcfds, and guns.
Right, I get that. As far as I know, there is only one such licensed club in the state at this time.

My original question was whether the new wording regarding selling ammo would make clubs get a license. Would the state then start using ‘license’ (albeit an ammo seller’s license) as a way to enforse the humanoid target law.
 
Yes, but the person you handed it over to cannot bring it back into MA. 131M says you cannot import into the Commonwealth a large capacity feeding device. Once it leaves, it is gone.

This is not true.

§131M(c) says (a) does not apply when traveling to your house or a range.

The final paragraph of 131M(c) prohibits transfer, not transport or possession.

 
I think anyone considering violating this law SHOULD care.

Back in the day, in many jurisdictions, I believe that possession of a small amount of marijuana was a civil infraction that wasn't arrestable. I suspect in this new law that illegally importing a standard capacity magazine into MA will be a felony. As you know, a felony conviction makes someone a federally prohibited person.

Anyone considering violating a law should have a very good understanding of what they are risking. It's easy to say "no one will ever know" or "it will be unenforceable". Maybe that's true. Maybe it's not. But it sure as hell would suck to be the test case.

Weed is a not a great example because those people mostly now have a legal way out now since decrim.

Nobody will be a test case, at least not /on this alone. / If anyone gets pinched with this odds are it won't be the only felony someone is getting charged with that day.

I think people should be fully aware but at the same time pant shitting and overreacting doesn't help. Massachusetts gun tyranny is ironically moderated by the fact that it is 120% incompetent in it's legal execution. This isn't like NYC or NJ where the default outcome on a paper gun crime is jayle or a hard felony plea a majority of the time. The overwhelming majority of people actually punished by low grade shit here is still going to be fun things that get prosecution easy wins like:

"Unlicensed possession"
"Unsafe storage"
"209A violations"
"CUI violations" (although at least this is getting a BAC standard, which helps)

Every person I personally know terrorized by MA gun laws has all come under this umbrella of low grade garbage. None of their legal troubles with guns were "technical" nor "exotic" in any way.

Most of this is due to what @CrackPot alludes to wrt the prosecutors default proclivities. I've seen what he's seen from other directions. I know a now retired mass dealer where half the PD intakes/recoveries he did involved what would have been a mountain of felonies for the accused, but nothing happened. Why? Because they didn't care. And the focus of their actions vs the accused was something other than a tickytack legal status of an items at the time of arrest.

How often do we see PD "bust" pictures of a pile of shit with numerous technical violations and go "wow theres 10 felonies there but they only charged them with the usual raft of crap" After they get to a point they stop because they know they're going to get the W.

I do think the inherent "carrying over 10 in public" BS does potentially set up a chip shot for a shitty DA in a corner case. This is only mitigated by the possibility that some subset of pols and antis don't want a seed 2A case against these kinds of laws. Right now that situation is pretty flakey considering that people like Bloomberg clearly are not the only anti gun playmakers; if i was going to make a wag people like his attorneys are pulling theur hair out as a huge cohort of antis are engaging in "full retard temper tantrums" instead of structured orderly lawfare; of course the wheels started coming off that bus back when Heller basically only became a thing because DC wouldn't just issue a highly restricted handgun permit to moot everything. The tradition of antis doubling down on stupid has metastisized into a grade 4 cancer for antis. Which I can live with, because the results are delicious.

I think if someone is of the pant shitting variety they would do well to just move out. Or be very boring. Or sell all their shit.

I get where @TLB is coming from though. After a point of dealing with it for so long, people are just mentally done with this shit. You cross the bridge and have made a conscious decision to not allow it to bother you much. Myself, I try to take a pragmatic approach balancing freedom vs perceived vs actual risks. I think people need to devote serious thought to the totality- while not going overboard. You go overboard and you will drown just the same as being indicted. To me getting too worked up is not something my health can afford anymore. If someone stays awake worrying about this shit they should just sell their shit or move out. That kind of eggshells stuff is horrible all on its own.
 
Right, I get that. As far as I know, there is only one such licensed club in the state at this time.

My original question was whether the new wording regarding selling ammo would make clubs get a license. Would the state then start using ‘license’ (albeit an ammo seller’s license) as a way to enforse the humanoid target law.
You just mentioned “license” in that original question. The one license covers ammo, lcfd, and large capacity firearms. The use of human silhouettes according to the new law for such a club is illegal.
 
I think every infraction, or damn near, results in the same possible sentence up to 2-1/2 years. Shocking for sure.
I used to joke that given some time, MA will make jaywalking a felony. I'm convinced that any new law they create will be a felony, just to screw the maximum number of people.
 
Back
Top Bottom