Massachusetts writes its place-based carry bans into MGL c. 269, s. 10. Paragraph (j) covers schools, colleges and universities. Paragraph (k), added...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Massachusetts writes its place-based carry bans into MGL c. 269, s. 10. Paragraph (j) covers schools, colleges and universities. Paragraph (k), added by SECTION 124 of St. 2024, c. 135 (An Act Modernizing Firearm Laws, approved July 25, 2024), created a defined "prohibited area" offense for government, judicial, correctional and election locations. Both paragraphs reach a person holding a Massachusetts license. Paragraph (j) says so in terms, and paragraph (k) gives licensees a storage defense rather than an exemption, so a license to carry is not an answer to either charge.
Related rules sit alongside them. MGL c. 269, s. 12D restricts loaded and uncased long guns on a public way, and MGL c. 140, s. 131C governs how a firearm may ride in a vehicle, supplying the storage conduct that the s. 10(k) defense depends on.
The current text, as amended by St. 2025, c. 14, s. 51 effective August 5, 2025, reaches a person who, outside the officer categories it lists, and "notwithstanding any license obtained by the person pursuant to chapter 140, carries on their person a firearm, loaded or unloaded, or other dangerous weapon in any building or on the grounds of any elementary or secondary school, college or university, including transport used for students of said institution without the written authorization of the board or officer in charge of the elementary or secondary school, college or university." The penalty is "a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 2 years or both."
Several details drive real decisions:
The August 5, 2025 amendment matters mainly to officers. It added currently certified law enforcement officers under MGL c. 6E, s. 1 to the people outside the prohibition, on two conditions the statute states together: the certification "shall not be suspended, limited or restricted" and "the officer shall be permitted to perform police duties and functions involving firearms in accordance with chapter 6E and the regulations promulgated thereunder."
Paragraph (k)(1) states the offense:
Whoever possesses a firearm, loaded or unloaded, as defined in section 121 of chapter 140, in a prohibited area, and knows or reasonably should know such location is a prohibited area, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 2 1/2 years, or both such fine and imprisonment.
The definition paragraph (k)(1) borrows decides how much of your safe this rule touches. MGL c. 140, s. 121 defines "Firearm" as "a stun gun, pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, sawed-off shotgun, large capacity firearm, assault-style firearm and machine gun, loaded or unloaded, which is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a shot or bullet; the frame or receiver of any such firearm or the unfinished frame or receiver of any such firearm," excluding "any antique firearm or permanently inoperable firearm." A prohibited area is closed to every item in that definition. The offense reaches a deer rifle, a shotgun, a stun gun and a bare frame or receiver, not only a carry handgun. The same s. 121 definition drives the snow vehicle rule in MGL c. 90B, s. 26(g) below.
The knowledge element is real: the Commonwealth has to show you knew, or reasonably should have known, that the location was a prohibited area. That is not strict liability. The element turns on what a person in that location reasonably should have known, so posted notice at an entrance and the character of the building bear on it.
Paragraph (k)(2) defines "prohibited area" as any of the following locations:
(i) a place owned, leased, or under the control of state, county or municipal government and used for the purpose of government administration, judicial or court administrative proceedings, or correctional services, including in or upon any part of the buildings, grounds, or parking areas thereof; provided, however, that a "prohibited area" shall not include any state-owned public land available to the public for hunting and provided further that a municipality may vote pursuant to section 4 of chapter 4 to exclude its administrative buildings from being a "prohibited area"; or
(ii) a location in use at the time of possession for the storage or tabulation of ballots during the hours in which voting or tabulation is occurring or a polling place or early voting site while open for voting or within 150 feet of the building entrance door to such polling place or early voting site.
Several points in that text drive decisions.
Parking areas count. Clause (i) reaches "any part of the buildings, grounds, or parking areas thereof." Pulling into a courthouse or county jail lot with a firearm in the car puts you inside the prohibited area, which is why the storage defense below exists.
Election-site coverage is limited by time and distance. Clause (ii) applies while voting or tabulation is occurring, or while a polling place or early voting site is open for voting, and it extends 150 feet from that building's entrance door. A school gym serving as a polling place is a prohibited area under clause (ii) that day, and its grounds are separately covered by s. 10(j) year round.
Clause (i) carries two carve-outs. A prohibited area "shall not include any state-owned public land available to the public for hunting," and "a municipality may vote pursuant to section 4 of chapter 4 to exclude its administrative buildings from being a 'prohibited area'."
MGL c. 4, s. 4 supplies the mechanism for that second one: "Wherever a statute is to take effect upon its acceptance by a municipality or district, or is to be effective in municipalities or districts accepting its provisions, this acceptance shall be, except as otherwise provided in that statute, in a municipality, by vote of the legislative body, subject to the charter of the municipality, or, in a district, by vote of the district at a district meeting." So the exclusion comes from a vote of the body that serves as the municipality's legislative body, town meeting or city council, subject to the municipal charter, and in a district from a vote at a district meeting. Confirm with the municipality that the vote was actually taken before assuming a town hall is open.
A law enforcement officer "may arrest without a warrant and detain a person found in violation of this subsection" under s. 10(k)(3).
Clause (k)(5), as amended by St. 2025, c. 14, s. 52 effective August 5, 2025, provides that the subsection "shall not apply to" a currently certified law enforcement officer under MGL c. 6E, a qualified or qualified retired law enforcement officer under 18 U.S.C. 926B and 926C, "or to a security guard employed at the prohibited area while at the location of their employment and during the course of their employment." The c. 6E officer exemption carries the same pair of conditions stated above: the certification must not be "suspended, limited or restricted," and the officer must be "permitted to perform police duties and functions involving firearms in accordance with chapter 6E and the regulations promulgated thereunder."
The same clause preserves broader local authority: "Nothing in this paragraph shall limit the authority of any municipality, county or department, division, commission, board, agency or court of the commonwealth to adopt policies further restricting the possession of firearms in areas under their control." A building can be closed to firearms by policy even where s. 10(k) would not reach it.
MGL c. 269, s. 10(k)(4) supplies the defense written into the prohibited-area offense: "It shall be a defense to a violation of this subsection that a person with the necessary license or card issued under sections 129B, 131 or 131F of chapter 140 to possess the firearm securely stored said firearm in a vehicle while within the prohibited area in accordance with sections 131C and 131L of chapter 140."
That defense has moving parts, and getting it wrong is its own offense.
MGL c. 140, s. 131C(a) prohibits carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle "unless the loaded firearm while carried in the vehicle is under the direct control of the person," with a $500 fine for a violation. Section 131C(b) requires a large capacity rifle or shotgun in a vehicle to be "unloaded and secured in a locked container as defined in section 121," with a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000. Section 131C(c) exempts an officer, agent or employee of the commonwealth, any state or the United States, a member of the military or other service of any state or of the United States, and a duly authorized law enforcement officer, agent or employee of a municipality of the commonwealth, "provided, however, that a person described in clauses (i) to (iii), inclusive, is authorized by a competent authority to carry or possess the firearm so carried or possessed and is acting within the scope of the person's official duties."
MGL c. 140, s. 131L(a) makes it unlawful "to store or keep any firearm in any place unless such firearm 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 firearm inoperable by any person other than the owner or other lawfully authorized user," and adds that a firearm "shall not be deemed stored or kept if carried by or under the control of the owner or other lawfully authorized user." Once you leave the firearm in the car and walk into the building, it is stored, and s. 131L applies. Section 131L(b) grades a violation, for a firearm that is not a large capacity firearm or machine gun, at a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $7,500 or imprisonment for not more than 1 1/2 years, or both, and for a large capacity or semiautomatic weapon or machine gun at a fine of not less than $2,000 nor more than $15,000 or imprisonment for not less than 1 1/2 years nor more than 12 years, or both.
MGL c. 140, s. 121 defines the container standard as one "capable of being unlocked only by means of a key, combination or similar means, including in an unoccupied motor vehicle, a locked trunk not accessible from the passenger compartment, a locked console or locked glovebox."
This defense is a Massachusetts answer to a Massachusetts offense. It does not travel onto postal property, where 39 C.F.R. 232.1(l) bars storing a firearm as well as carrying one. See the post offices subsection below before you use a post office parking lot as your storage spot.
The license consequence is severe and automatic. Under s. 131C(d), a conviction "shall be reported immediately by the court or magistrate to the licensing authority," the licensing authority "shall immediately revoke the firearm identification card or license," and no new card or license may issue "until 1 year after the date of revocation."
Nonresidents get a narrow allowance under MGL c. 140, s. 129C(k), which permits carry "while in a vehicle lawfully traveling through the commonwealth" so long as the firearm "shall remain in the vehicle" and, if outside the owner's direct control, is stored per s. 131C. That covers transit, not arrival at a prohibited area.
Section 12D is a public-way rule for rifles and shotguns rather than a building rule, and its heading says so: "Rifle or shotgun loaded with shells or cartridges; unloaded rifle or shotgun; carrying on public way prohibited; exceptions; punishment."
Subsection (a) bars carrying on the person on any public way "a loaded rifle or shotgun having cartridges or shells in either the magazine or chamber thereof." Subsection (b) bars carrying an unloaded rifle or shotgun on any public way "unless such rifle or shotgun is enclosed in a case." Both allow warrantless arrest. Subsection (b) does not apply "to drills, parades, military reenactments or other commemorative ceremonies, color guards or memorial service firing squads, so-called, as permitted by law."
Subsection (d) exempts, among others, government officers, agents and employees including law enforcement personnel and members of the military, where authorized by a competent authority and acting within the scope of duties or training, and "a person who is lawfully engaged in hunting and is the holder of a valid hunting or sporting license issued pursuant to chapter 131." The section also does not reach the operation of a shooting gallery licensed under MGL c. 140, s. 56A, or persons using it. On conviction, s. 12D(c) requires the long gun to be confiscated and forwarded to the colonel of the state police.
MGL c. 90B, s. 26(g) adds a rule off the roadway: no person may carry a firearm as defined in MGL c. 140, s. 121 "in or on a snow vehicle or recreation vehicle or on a trailer or sled attached thereto" without the required license or card under s. 129B or s. 131 and "in compliance with section 131C of chapter 140." Any violation of that subsection "shall be penalized in accordance with section 131C of chapter 140." Read the revocation consequence carefully here: s. 131C(d) attaches its immediate revocation and one-year bar to "a conviction of a violation of this section," meaning a conviction under s. 131C itself, so do not assume it follows automatically from a s. 26(g) conviction penalized in accordance with s. 131C. The subsection closes with its own carve-outs: "This section shall not apply to a law enforcement officer or other person with enforcement powers authorized in section 32, or to a paraplegic as provided in section 65 of chapter 131."
The Gun-Free School Zones Act, 18 U.S.C. 922(q)(2)(A), makes it unlawful "for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone." Under 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(26) a "school zone" is "in, or on the grounds of, a public, parochial or private school" or "within a distance of 1,000 feet from the grounds" of one, and under 921(a)(27) a "school" is one "which provides elementary or secondary education, as determined under State law." Colleges and universities are outside the federal school-zone definition, though they remain inside MGL c. 269, s. 10(j).
The exceptions in 922(q)(2)(B) include possession "on private property not part of school grounds"; possession by an individual "licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located or a political subdivision of the State," where the law requires law enforcement to "verify that the individual is qualified under law to receive the license" before issuing it; possession of a firearm "not loaded" and "in a locked container, or a locked firearms rack that is on a motor vehicle"; possession "by a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity"; and possession of a firearm "that is unloaded and is possessed by an individual while traversing school premises for the purpose of gaining access to public or private lands open to hunting, if the entry on school premises is authorized by school authorities." That license exception is keyed to the state where the school zone sits, so a Massachusetts license does not carry it across a state line.
On the verification condition in clause (ii), Massachusetts licensing is run by law enforcement. MGL c. 140, s. 121 defines the "Licensing authority" as "the chief of police or the board or officer having control of the police in a city or town, or persons authorized by them." Under s. 131(d) that authority "shall issue as provided under section 121F only if it appears that the applicant is neither a prohibited person nor determined to be unsuitable to be issued a license as set forth in said section 121F," and "upon an initial application for a license to carry firearms, the licensing authority shall conduct a personal interview with the applicant." Under s. 121F(a), "no permit, card or license shall be issued unless the colonel of the state police has certified that the information available indicates that issuing the permit, card or license is not in violation of state or federal law," and s. 121F(c) and (d) route the applicant's fingerprints to the colonel, who searches probation files and statewide and nationwide criminal justice, warrant and protection order systems "including, but not limited to, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System," and inquires of the commissioner of the department of mental health. That is what the statutes require of the issuing authority before a license issues.
Under 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(4), "Whoever violates section 922(q) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both," and that term "shall not run concurrently with any other term of imprisonment imposed under any other provision of law." The same paragraph classifies the offense: "Except for the authorization of a term of imprisonment of not more than 5 years made in this paragraph, for the purpose of any other law a violation of section 922(q) shall be deemed to be a misdemeanor."
Officers relying on the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act should read its limit first. Under 18 U.S.C. 926B(b), LEOSA "shall not be construed to supersede or limit the laws of any State that" in clause (1) "permit private persons or entities to prohibit or restrict the possession of concealed firearms on their property" or in clause (2) "prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on any State or local government property, installation, building, base, or park." Section 926C(b) is identical for qualified retired officers. Massachusetts writes its own exemptions for those officers into s. 10(j) and s. 10(k)(5).
18 U.S.C. 930 covers ground the state statutes do not. Subsection (a) provides: "Except as provided in subsection (d), whoever knowingly possesses or causes to be present a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a Federal facility (other than a Federal court facility), or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both." Section 930(g)(1) defines a "Federal facility" as "a building or part thereof owned or leased by the Federal Government, where Federal employees are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties." The test is federal ownership or lease plus federal employees regularly working there, not the sign over the door.
A federal court facility is graded higher. Under 930(e)(1), knowing possession of a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a Federal court facility, or an attempt, is punished by a fine "or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both." Section 930(g)(3) defines "Federal court facility" as "the courtroom, judges' chambers, witness rooms, jury deliberation rooms, attorney conference rooms, prisoner holding cells, offices of the court clerks, the United States attorney, and the United States marshal, probation and parole offices, and adjoining corridors of any court of the United States."
Subsection (d) provides that subsection (a) "shall not apply to" the following: "the lawful performance of official duties by an officer, agent, or employee of the United States, a State, or a political subdivision thereof, who is authorized by law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of law"; "the possession of a firearm or other dangerous weapon by a Federal official or a member of the Armed Forces if such possession is authorized by law"; and "the lawful carrying of firearms or other dangerous weapons in a Federal facility incident to hunting or other lawful purposes." Do not stretch that last one. Section 930(e)(2) carries only paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (d) over to court facilities, so the hunting and other lawful purposes carve-out does not reach a Federal court facility at all.
Two more provisions matter at the door. Section 930(f) preserves each court's own weapons rules: "Nothing in this section limits the power of a court of the United States to punish for contempt or to promulgate rules or orders regulating, restricting, or prohibiting the possession of weapons within any building housing such court or any of its proceedings, or upon any grounds appurtenant to such building." And 930(h) requires notice of subsections (a) and (b) posted conspicuously at each public entrance to each Federal facility, and notice of subsection (e) at each public entrance to each Federal court facility, and provides that "no person shall be convicted of an offense under subsection (a) or (e) with respect to a Federal facility if such notice is not so posted at such facility, unless such person had actual notice of subsection (a) or (e), as the case may be."
39 C.F.R. 232.1(l) is flat, and it is broader than the state rules in one way that catches people: "Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, rule or regulation, no person while on postal property may carry firearms, other dangerous or deadly weapons, or explosives, either openly or concealed, or store the same on postal property, except for official purposes."
Read the words "or store the same." The locked-in-the-vehicle answer that works as a defense under MGL c. 269, s. 10(k)(4) does not work here. Leaving a firearm locked in the trunk while you go into the lobby is storing it on postal property. The lot counts: 232.1(a) applies the section to "all real property under the charge and control of the Postal Service," and 232.1(o) describes postal premises as taking in "the grounds, walks, driveways, parking and maneuvering areas."
Section 232.1(a) sets the reach: "This section applies to all real property under the charge and control of the Postal Service, to all tenant agencies, and to all persons entering in or on such property." It does not apply to "[a]ny portions of real property, owned or leased by the Postal Service, that are leased or subleased by the Postal Service to private tenants for their exclusive use." It also does not apply, but only "[w]ith respect to sections 232.1(h)(1) and 232.1(o)," to street-frontage sidewalks inside postal property lines "that are not physically distinguishable from adjacent municipal or other public sidewalks, and any paved areas adjacent to such sidewalks that are not physically distinguishable from such sidewalks." That second exclusion is limited to two other paragraphs and does nothing for the weapons rule in (l).
The penalty is in 232.1(p)(2): a person found guilty of violating these rules while on property under the charge and control of the Postal Service "is subject to a fine as provided in 18 U.S.C. 3571 or imprisonment of not more than 30 days, or both."
36 C.F.R. 2.4(a) points back at Massachusetts law rather than away from it: "None of the provisions in this section or any regulation in this chapter may be enforced to prohibit an individual from possessing a firearm, including an assembled or functional firearm, in any National Park System unit if: (1) The individual is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing the firearm; and (2) The possession of the firearm is in compliance with the law of the State in which the National Park System unit is located." In a Massachusetts park unit that routes you straight back to s. 10(j), s. 10(k) and the vehicle rules in c. 140, s. 131C and s. 131L.
Read the rest of the regulation against that. Section 2.4(c) prohibits "[c]arrying or possessing a loaded weapon in a motor vehicle, vessel or other mode of transportation," but 2.4(c) is a provision "in this section," which is the language 2.4(a) disables. Read 2.4(a) closely on what it protects. It is written throughout in terms of possession: it bars enforcement "to prohibit an individual from possessing a firearm" where that individual is not otherwise prohibited by law and the possession complies with the law of the State the unit sits in. So 2.4(c) is not enforceable against a state-compliant person to prohibit possessing a firearm. Subsection (c) also prohibits carrying, and 2.4(a) says nothing about carrying, so do not assume the protection reaches that limb. Treat a loaded firearm carried in a vehicle inside a park unit as unresolved on this text and keep it unloaded and stored under MGL c. 140, ยง 131C unless you have confirmed otherwise.
Section 2.4(g) is different, and it does still bear on a Massachusetts carrier: "[t]he carrying or possessing of a weapon, trap or net in violation of applicable Federal and State laws is prohibited." It reaches conduct that already violates state or federal law, so 2.4(a) does not disable it. In practice that means the Massachusetts rules stated elsewhere on this page continue to apply inside a park unit.
Section 2.4(h) sets the geography: these regulations "apply, regardless of land ownership, on all lands and waters within a park area that are under the legislative jurisdiction of the United States." Note also the limit of what 2.4(a) reaches. It disables enforcement of provisions "in this section or any regulation in this chapter," which leaves 18 U.S.C. 930 untouched, so a federal building inside a park unit is still a Federal facility.
| Conduct | Statute | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Carrying a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a school, college or university building, on its grounds, or in student transport, without written authorization | MGL c. 269, s. 10(j) | Fine of not more than $1,000, or imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or both |
| School official or faculty member failing to report a s. 10(j) violation | MGL c. 269, s. 10(j) | Misdemeanor, fine of not more than $500 |
| Possessing a firearm in a prohibited area, knowing or reasonably having reason to know it is one | MGL c. 269, s. 10(k)(1) | Fine of not more than $1,000, or house of correction not more than 2 1/2 years, or both |
| Carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun on a public way | MGL c. 269, s. 12D(a) | Fine of $500 to $5,000, or house of correction not more than 2 years, or both; if a large capacity weapon, fine of $1,000 to $10,000, or imprisonment 1 to 10 years, or both |
| Carrying an unloaded, uncased rifle or shotgun on a public way | MGL c. 269, s. 12D(b) | Fine of $100 to $1,000; if a large capacity firearm carried with a fully or partially loaded large capacity feeding device, fine of $1,000 to $10,000, or imprisonment 1 to 10 years, or both |
| Loaded firearm in a vehicle not under the person's direct control | MGL c. 140, s. 131C(a) | Fine of $500, plus immediate license revocation and a 1 year bar on reissue under s. 131C(d) |
| Large capacity rifle or shotgun in a vehicle not unloaded and in a locked container | MGL c. 140, s. 131C(b) | Fine of $500 to $5,000, plus immediate license revocation and a 1 year bar on reissue under s. 131C(d) |
| Storing or keeping a firearm that is not secured in a locked container or locked by a properly engaged safety device | MGL c. 140, s. 131L(b) | Fine of $1,000 to $7,500, or imprisonment not more than 1 1/2 years, or both; if a large capacity or semiautomatic weapon or machine gun, fine of $2,000 to $15,000, or imprisonment 1 1/2 to 12 years, or both |
| Possessing a firearm in a federal school zone | 18 U.S.C. 922(q)(2)(A), 924(a)(4) | Fine, imprisonment not more than 5 years, or both; sentence cannot run concurrently; deemed a misdemeanor for the purpose of any other law |
| Knowingly possessing a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a Federal facility other than a Federal court facility | 18 U.S.C. 930(a) | Fine under title 18, or imprisonment not more than 1 year, or both |
| Knowingly possessing a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a Federal court facility | 18 U.S.C. 930(e)(1) | Fine under title 18, imprisonment not more than 2 years, or both |
| Carrying or storing a firearm or other dangerous or deadly weapon on postal property | 39 C.F.R. 232.1(l), (p)(2) | Fine as provided in 18 U.S.C. 3571, or imprisonment not more than 30 days, or both |
A Massachusetts license to carry no longer comes with purpose restrictions. The Department of Criminal Justice Information Services, on its Firearms License and Transaction Frequently Asked Questions page, states that after New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, "any restrictions appearing on any license holder's License to Carry ('LTC') - limiting the license holder to carrying a firearm only for such activities as hunting, target shooting, employment, or the like - are no longer enforceable," and that a holder may contact the licensing authority for a new license reflecting that change.
What the license does not do is override s. 10(j) or s. 10(k). Both bind licensees on their face, and MGL c. 140, s. 131 as replaced by SECTION 49 of St. 2024, c. 135 now runs only from (a) through (h) with no place-based carve-out of its own.
There is one sentence in s. 10 that reads the other way, and it is worth confronting rather than ignoring: "No person having in effect a license to carry firearms for any purpose, issued under section one hundred and thirty-one or section one hundred and thirty-one F of chapter one hundred and forty shall be deemed to be in violation of this section." Paragraph (j) answers it on the face of the text, because that offense applies "notwithstanding any license obtained by the person pursuant to chapter 140." Paragraph (k) does not use those words. It treats licensees as covered a different way, by giving "a person with the necessary license or card issued under sections 129B, 131 or 131F of chapter 140" the secure-storage defense in (k)(4), which would have nothing to do if a license already put the holder outside the offense.
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