MGL c. 140, § 131L(a) reaches any firearm you are not carrying and that is not under your control. It applies in your home, in your vehicle, and...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
MGL c. 140, § 131L(a) reaches any firearm you are not carrying and that is not under your control. It applies in your home, in your vehicle, and anywhere else you keep a firearm. Section 131L lists only two ways out. Either the firearm is carried by or under the control of the owner or other lawfully authorized user under § 131L(a), or it falls in the pre-1899 ignition exemption in § 131L(f). A license to carry is not on that list.
Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024, approved July 25, 2024, rewrote parts of this statute. Sections 67 through 70 of that act amended § 131L, and Sections 54 through 58 amended the vehicle statute, MGL c. 140, § 131C. Section 67 struck the old rifle, shotgun and machine gun list out of § 131L(a), and Section 68 swapped "weapon" for "firearm" at seven separate lines, so the consolidated § 121 definition of "Firearm" now carries the storage duty by itself.
Under § 131L(a), it is unlawful to store or keep any firearm in any place unless the firearm is either:
A stun gun gets a narrower rule under the same subsection. It must be secured in a locked container accessible only to the owner or other lawfully authorized user, with no mechanical-lock alternative.
The duty switches off only while the firearm is in hand or under your control. Set it down and walk away, and the storage rule governs.
Chapter 135, Section 28 inserted a definition of "Secured in a locked container" into MGL c. 140, § 121: secured in a container capable of being unlocked only by means of a key, combination or similar means. It expressly includes, in an unoccupied motor vehicle, a locked trunk not accessible from the passenger compartment, a locked console, or a locked glovebox, and for a common carrier in the regular and ordinary transport of firearms, locked access to any area containing firearms.
A locked vehicle is not itself a locked container. Executive Office of Public Safety and Security guidance puts the question and answers it flatly: asked whether the § 121 definition of "secured in a locked container" includes a locked vehicle, the answer is no. What the definition does include is a locked, secure container inside a vehicle, such as a locked glovebox, a locked console, or a locked trunk inaccessible from the passenger compartment. Locking the car therefore does not by itself satisfy § 131L(a). The firearm still has to be in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device, properly engaged.
Chapter 135 replaced the definition of "Firearm" in § 121. It now covers a stun gun, pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, sawed-off shotgun, large capacity firearm, assault-style firearm and machine gun, loaded or unloaded, designed to or readily convertible to expel a shot or bullet, plus the frame or receiver and the unfinished frame or receiver. Antique and permanently inoperable firearms are excluded.
Section 131L(f) adds its own exemption for any firearm, rifle or shotgun with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap or similar type of ignition system manufactured in or prior to 1899, and for a replica of one, so long as the replica is not designed or redesigned to use rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition.
Every penalty tier in § 131L(b) through (d) turns on how the gun is classified. The lower tiers reach a firearm that is not a large capacity firearm or machine gun, and the upper tier at § 131L(b) reaches a large capacity or semiautomatic weapon or a machine gun. Those two descriptions overlap. Section 69 took the nouns out of the lower tier and Section 70 added "or semiautomatic" to the upper tier, so a semiautomatic that is not a large capacity firearm now falls inside the words of both tiers, and § 131L does not say which one controls. Chapter 135, Section 22 defines "Large capacity firearm" as any firearm that is semiautomatic with a fixed large capacity feeding device, is semiautomatic and capable of accepting or readily modifiable to accept a detachable large capacity feeding device when both are in the same person's possession or under their control in a vehicle, employs a rotating cylinder capable of accepting more than 10 rounds of ammunition or more than 5 shotgun shells, or is an assault-style firearm.
The same definition carries exclusions that decide tier assignment. The designation is a secondary one applied to a firearm in addition to its primary designation, and it does not include any firearm that operates by manual bolt, pump, lever or slide action, is a single-shot firearm, has been modified so as to render it permanently inoperable or otherwise permanently unable to be designated a large capacity firearm, or is an antique or relic, theatrical prop or other firearm that is not capable of firing a projectile, is not intended for use as a functional firearm, and cannot be readily modified through a combination of available parts into an operable large capacity firearm. A pump shotgun and a lever gun sit outside the definition, so neither can carry a tier keyed to large capacity status.
| Subsection | Trigger | Fine | Imprisonment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 131L(b) | Firearm that is not a large capacity firearm or machine gun | $1,000 to $7,500 | Not more than 1 1/2 years |
| 131L(b) | Large capacity or semiautomatic weapon, or machine gun | $2,000 to $15,000 | Not less than 1 1/2 years, not more than 12 years |
| 131L(c) | Firearm that is not a large capacity firearm or machine gun, stored where a person younger than 18 without a valid firearm identification card under § 129B may have access without committing an unforeseeable trespass | $2,500 to $15,000 | Not less than 1 1/2 years, not more than 12 years |
| 131L(d) | Rifle or shotgun that is a large capacity weapon, firearm or machine gun, stored where a person younger than 18 may have access without committing an unforeseeable trespass | $10,000 to $20,000 | Not less than 4 years, not more than 15 years |
Each tier authorizes the fine, the imprisonment, or both.
Two wording notes, because the statute does not read the way the table does. The § 131L(b) and § 131L(c) rows supply a noun the statute no longer has: the text reads "in the case of a that is not a large capacity firearm or machine gun." Chapter 135, Section 69 struck "rifle or shotgun that is not a large capacity weapon" and inserted only "that is not a large capacity firearm or machine gun", taking the nouns out and putting none back. Read with Section 67, the tier reaches any firearm that is not a large capacity firearm or a machine gun. Separately, § 131L(b)'s upper tier still says "weapon" in the statute. Section 68's swap list skips that line and Section 70 added only "or semiautomatic" there, though Section 22 replaced the § 121 definition of "Large capacity weapon" with "Large capacity firearm."
Neither the § 131L(c) nor the § 131L(d) trigger asks whether a minor actually got the gun. Each asks whether the firearm was stored where a person younger than 18 may have access without committing an unforeseeable trespass.
Section 131L(e) is an evidentiary rule, not a separate penalty. A violation of § 131L is evidence of wanton or reckless conduct in any criminal or civil proceeding if a person under the age of 18 who was not a trespasser, or who was a foreseeable trespasser, acquired access to a firearm and that access results in personal injury to or the death of any person. The rule lifts only where the person under 18 possessed a valid firearm identification card issued under § 129B and was permitted by law to possess the firearm.
MGL c. 140, § 131C sets the vehicle rules and its own fines:
Under § 131C(d), a conviction of a violation of § 131C is reported immediately by the court or magistrate to the licensing authority, that authority immediately revokes the firearm identification card or license, and no new card or license may issue until 1 year after the date of revocation.
Chapter 135, Section 124 added a new offense at MGL c. 269, § 10(k)(1). Whoever possesses a firearm, loaded or unloaded, in a prohibited area, and knows or reasonably should know the location is a prohibited area, is 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.
Section 10(k)(2) defines "prohibited area" two ways. First, a place owned, leased or controlled by state, county or municipal government and used for government administration, judicial or court administrative proceedings, or correctional services, including buildings, grounds and parking areas. State-owned public land available to the public for hunting is excluded, and a municipality may vote to exclude its administrative buildings. Second, a location in use for the storage or tabulation of ballots while voting or tabulation is occurring, or a polling place or early voting site while open for voting, or within 150 feet of its entrance door.
Under § 10(k)(4), it is a defense that a person with the necessary license or card issued under § 129B, § 131 or § 131F securely stored the firearm in a vehicle while within the prohibited area, in accordance with §§ 131C and 131L. That points back to the locked container rule above. A locked vehicle is not itself a locked container, so the defense turns on how the firearm is secured inside the vehicle.
Section 10(k)(5) takes some people outside the offense altogether. As amended effective August 5, 2025, subsection (k) does not apply to a law enforcement officer as defined in MGL c. 6E, § 1 who is currently certified under § 4 of that chapter, to 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. §§ 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 that employment. For the chapter 6E officer, the certification must not be suspended, limited or restricted, and the officer must be permitted to perform police duties and functions involving firearms under chapter 6E and its regulations. Nothing in that paragraph limits a municipality, county, or department, division, commission, board, agency or court of the commonwealth from adopting policies further restricting the possession of firearms in areas under its control.
Chapter 135, Section 32 inserted new registration and serialization duties at MGL c. 140, §§ 121B and 121C. Firearms possessed by individuals lawfully traveling through the commonwealth in the care and custody of a nonresident owner are exempt from both, but only if the firearms are stored in accordance with §§ 131C and 131L. That proviso conditions those two new duties, not the storage or carry rules.
Under § 129C(j)(iii), a nonresident at least 18 years of age may possess rifles and shotguns that are not large capacity or semi-automatic while traveling in or through the commonwealth only if they are unloaded and in a locked container pursuant to §§ 131C and 131L.
Storage is written into the certified curriculum. Under MGL c. 140, § 131P(b)(ii), the colonel of state police may certify a firearms safety instructor whose course covers, among other topics, the safe use, handling and storage of firearms, methods for securing and childproofing firearms, and the applicable laws relating to the possession, transportation and storage of firearms. Section 131P(f) also directs the colonel to produce public service announcements on safe storage and transportation as outlined in §§ 131C and 131L.
MassWildlife firearms safety guidance goes past the statute and tells owners to store firearms and ammunition separately in locked compartments and beyond the reach of children. Section 131L does not require separate ammunition storage, so present that as practice rather than law.
| Citation | Subject |
|---|---|
| MGL c. 140, § 131L | Storage duty, penalty tiers, wanton or reckless conduct rule |
| MGL c. 140, § 131C | Firearms in a vehicle, fines, license revocation |
| MGL c. 140, § 131M | Locked container storage condition on grandfathered large capacity feeding devices |
| MGL c. 140, § 121 | Definitions of "Firearm," "Large capacity firearm," and "Secured in a locked container" |
| MGL c. 140, § 129B | Firearm identification card, referenced in the § 131L(c) and § 131L(e) triggers |
| MGL c. 140, § 131P | Certified safety course curriculum and storage public service announcements |
| MGL c. 140, § 129C | Nonresident travel and vehicle-carry conditions tied to §§ 131C and 131L |
| MGL c. 269, § 10(k) | Prohibited-area offense and the secure vehicle storage defense |
| Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024 | Amended §§ 121, 131C and 131L; added §§ 121B, 121C and c. 269, § 10(k) |
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