Transporting Firearms in Massachusetts

Transporting Firearms in Massachusetts

Massachusetts splits firearm transport across statutes that do different work. MGL c.140 s.131C, headed "Carrying of firearms in a vehicle," sets the in-vehicle rules. MGL c.140 s.131L governs storage anywhere, including in a parked car. MGL c.140 s.129C creates the license-free exemptions non-residents rely on, and MGL c.269 s.10 supplies the baseline offense for possession or control in a vehicle without a license.

Start with the definition that controls every rule below. 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 definition then reaches "the frame or receiver of any such firearm or the unfinished frame or receiver of any such firearm", and it excludes "any antique firearm or permanently inoperable firearm". Rifles and shotguns are firearms. Section 121 opens "As used in sections 122 to 131Y, inclusive," so that definition governs section 131C and section 131L by its own terms. That governs every Massachusetts rule on this page. The federal provisions discussed near the end carry their own definitions and are not controlled by s. 121. When s.131C(a) conditions carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle on direct control, it reaches a loaded rifle and a loaded shotgun. When s.131L requires any firearm to be secured, it reaches rifles and shotguns too. The separate command in s.131C(b) for a large capacity rifle or shotgun is an added layer on top of those rules, not the only rule that touches long guns. Where this section says "rifle or shotgun" it is tracking the words a particular statute uses, never carving long guns out of the word "firearm."

One definition in s. 121 turns on the vehicle itself, so read it before you load the car. "Large capacity firearm" includes any firearm that "(ii) is semiautomatic and capable of accepting, or readily modifiable to accept, any detachable large capacity feeding device when both are in the same person's possession or under their control in a vehicle." A semiautomatic that is not otherwise a large capacity firearm becomes one under that clause when the gun and a detachable large capacity feeding device are under the same person's control in a vehicle. That matters here because the large capacity designation is what pulls in s. 131C(b)'s unload-and-lock command, and because MGL c. 269, s. 10(m) reaches a person who "knowingly has under his control in a vehicle, a large capacity firearm or large capacity feeding device therefor" without a license to carry under s. 131 or s. 131F. The designation is a secondary one under the same definition and does not apply to a firearm that operates by manual bolt, pump, lever or slide action, that is a single-shot firearm, that has been permanently modified so it can no longer be designated large capacity, or that is an antique, relic, theatrical prop or other firearm not capable of firing a projectile.

One structural note next. St. 2024 c.135 restructured MGL c.140 s.131, which now runs only through subsection (h), with eligibility, fees and renewal moved into a new MGL c.140 s.121F. Any guide citing a s.131 subsection past (h) is citing text that no longer exists.

The two separate rules inside section 131C

Section 131C contains two commands with two different scopes.

Subsection (a) covers loaded firearms: "No person carrying a loaded firearm under a license issued pursuant to section 129B 131 or 131F or through an exemption under section 129C shall carry the loaded firearm in a vehicle unless the loaded firearm while carried in the vehicle is under the direct control of the person." The penalty is "a fine of $500."

Subsection (b) covers large capacity long guns: "No person possessing a large capacity rifle or shotgun under a license issued pursuant to section 131 or 131F or through an exemption under section 129C shall possess the large capacity firearm in a vehicle unless the large capacity firearm is unloaded and secured in a locked container as defined in section 121." The penalty is "a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000."

Read those side by side. Subsection (a) names s.129B, the firearm identification card statute. Subsection (b) does not. The amendment record shows the two insertions carried different line targets: St. 2024 c.135, SECTION 54, inserted the number 129B after the word "section" in line 2 only, while SECTION 55 inserted "or through an exemption under section 129C" after the figure "131F" in both lines 2 and 7.

So a large capacity rifle or shotgun in a vehicle must be both unloaded and locked up. No part of s.131C authorizes a loaded long gun sitting loose in a car, and subsection (a) permits a loaded firearm in a vehicle only while it stays under the carrier's direct control.

Subsection (c) lifts s.131C for government officers, agents and employees, military and other service members, and duly authorized municipal law enforcement, but only where the person "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."

Subsection (d) adds a consequence that outlasts the fine. A conviction must be reported immediately to the licensing authority, which "shall immediately revoke the firearm identification card or license of the person convicted," and no new card or license may issue "until 1 year after the date of revocation."

A locked vehicle is not a locked container

Massachusetts defines the phrase, and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security was asked directly whether it covers a locked vehicle. MGL c.140 s.121 defines the term as "secured in a container that is 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 and for purposes of a common carrier in the course of the regular and ordinary transport of firearms, locked access to any area containing firearms."

The answer, at question 22 of the EOPSS guidance on An Act Modernizing Firearm Laws, is: "No. However, the definition does include a locked, secure container inside of a vehicle, such as a locked glovebox, locked console, or locked trunk inaccessible from the passenger compartment."

Locking the car doors accomplishes nothing on its own. The firearm has to be inside something that is itself locked and meets the s.121 definition, and everything below about leaving a firearm in a car carries that qualification.

Storage rules follow the firearm into the car

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." The same subsection supplies the carve-out that makes ordinary carry possible: "such firearm shall not be deemed stored or kept if carried by or under the control of the owner or other lawfully authorized user."

That is why stepping away from the vehicle changes your obligations. While the firearm is under your control it is not stored; once it is not, s.131L applies, and the locked car body does not satisfy it. Subsection (f) lifts s.131L for a firearm, rifle or shotgun with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap or similar type of ignition system "manufactured in or prior to the year 1899," and for a replica of one, but the replica is covered only "if such replica is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition."

Resident with a license to carry

An LTC issued under MGL c.140 s.131, or the temporary license under s.131F, is the broadest authority available. MGL c.269 s.10(a) provides that no person holding one "for any purpose" shall "be deemed to be in violation of this section."

Inside the vehicle, s.131C still binds: a loaded firearm must stay under your direct control, and a large capacity rifle or shotgun must be unloaded and in a locked container regardless of the LTC.

MGL c.269 s.10H adds an impairment offense, and it does not require a vehicle. It reaches an LTC holder who "carries on his person, or has under his control in a vehicle, a loaded firearm" while at or above a blood alcohol concentration of eight one-hundredths, or under the influence of intoxicating liquor, marijuana, narcotic drugs, depressants or stimulant substances as defined in MGL c.94C s.1, or from smelling or inhaling the fumes of a substance releasing toxic vapors as defined in MGL c.270 s.18. That person "shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 or by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than two and one-half years, or by both such fine and imprisonment."

The prohibited-area offense in MGL c.269 s.10(k)(1) has a vehicle answer built into it. Subsection (k)(4) makes it a defense that a person holding the necessary license or card "securely stored said firearm in a vehicle while within the prohibited area in accordance with sections 131C and 131L of chapter 140." Section 10(k)(5) appears in two bracketed versions; the text amended by St. 2025 c.14, SECTION 52, effective August 5, 2025, is the operative one.

Resident with a firearm identification card

An FID card under MGL c.140 s.129B is narrower. Section 129B(c) entitles the holder "to purchase, transfer, possess and carry rifles and shotguns that are not large capacity or semi-automatic, and the ammunition therefore," and denies any entitlement "to transfer, possess or carry any other firearm" outside direct supervision by an LTC holder at a shooting club or licensed range. Its closing sentence addresses transport directly, and it carries its own qualifier: "Except as otherwise provided herein, a firearm identification card shall not be valid for the use, possession, ownership, transfer, purchase, sale, lease, rental or transportation of any large capacity firearm."

So although s.131C(b) does not name s.129B, an FID is not valid for the transportation of a large capacity firearm, except as s.129B(c) otherwise provides. Section 131C(a) does name s.129B, so the direct-control requirement binds an FID holder carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle.

Resident with no license or card

MGL c.269 s.10(a) is the operative offense. It reaches whoever "knowingly has in his possession; or knowingly has under his control in a vehicle; a firearm, loaded or unloaded," absent one of its enumerated bases, which include being in or on one's residence or place of business, holding an LTC under s.131 or s.131F, or having complied with MGL c.140 s.129C and s.131G. One half of that fourth route no longer exists: St. 2024, c. 135, SECTION 64 provides that "Section 131G of said chapter 140 is hereby repealed," while the text of section 10(a) still names it. A parallel clause covers rifles and shotguns and adds a valid FID under s.129B. Sentencing is mandatory-minimum driven and prosecutions "shall neither be continued without a finding nor placed on file."

There is a narrow window for people arriving or returning. MGL c.140 s.129C(a)(ii) permits license-free possession by a returning resident absent "for not less than 180 consecutive days or any new resident moving to the commonwealth, only with respect to any firearm or ammunition then in their possession prior to moving or return and only for 60 days after such return or entry into the commonwealth."

Non-residents

No other state's license functions as a license to carry here. Asked whether Massachusetts recognizes firearms licenses from other states, the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services answers under its heading "Transporting Firearms": "No. Massachusetts does not have reciprocity with any other states." MGL c.269 s.10(a) matches that, recognizing only licenses issued under MGL c.140 s.131 and s.131F. That answer is about carry licenses. MGL c.140 s.129C(i), described just below, does give a qualifying home-state permit, card or license legal effect for a narrow class of long guns.

What a non-resident has instead are the exemptions in MGL c.140 s.129C. Subsection (i) allows a non-resident at least 18 years of age to possess rifles and shotguns that are not large capacity or semi-automatic, plus ammunition, if they hold a permit, card or license from their home state that the colonel of the state police has determined substantially similar to a Massachusetts FID. Subsection (l) directs the colonel to publish an annual list of qualifying states.

Subsection (j) allows the same class of long guns for hunting in season with a qualifying license, on a firing or shooting range, at a collectors' club showing, and "while traveling in or through the commonwealth; provided, that the rifles and shotguns that are not large capacity or semi-automatic shall be unloaded and in a locked container pursuant to sections 131C and 131L."

Subsection (k) is the in-vehicle provision: "A nonresident may carry a firearm on their person while in a vehicle lawfully traveling through the commonwealth; provided, however, that the firearm shall remain in the vehicle and if the firearm is outside its owner's direct control it shall be stored in the vehicle in accordance with section 131C."

Two published versions of that sentence do not match, and the difference lands on the part a driver needs. The malegislature.gov text of s.129C(k) ends "in accordance with section 131C." EOPSS Guidance #4, at question 36, quotes the same sentence as ending "in accordance with sections 131C and 131L." Follow the two-section version. Section 131C sets no storage standard for a firearm that is not large capacity: subsection (a) only forbids carrying one loaded without direct control, and subsection (b) covers large capacity rifles and shotguns. Read alone, the bare-statute instruction gives a non-resident nothing to comply with at the exact moment the firearm is left unattended. Section 131L fills that in of its own force, because a firearm stops being exempt from it once it is no longer "carried by or under the control of the owner or other lawfully authorized user." So the firearm has to be secured in a locked container meeting the s.121 definition, or equipped with a properly engaged tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device. The locked car is not the container.

EOPSS addressed the meaning of "traveling through the commonwealth" at question 36, with both a limit and an allowance. The limit: "Going to your workplace would not be 'traveling through the commonwealth' under Commonwealth v. Marquis, 494 Mass. 434 (2025)." The allowance, stated after quoting subsection (k): "Brief stops incidental to travel appear to be permissible provided the firearm is properly secured in the vehicle." A commute to a Massachusetts job site is not covered; a fuel or food stop on a through trip, firearm secured, is.

A non-resident who wants real carry authority applies under MGL c.140 s.131F for a temporary license to carry, issued by the colonel of state police, valid for one year, with a $100 fee. It "shall not be used to purchase firearms in the commonwealth," and a large capacity firearm may be carried under it only where "this entitlement shall be clearly indicated on the license."

Federal peaceable journey transport

18 U.S.C. 926A entitles a person not otherwise prohibited from transporting a firearm "to transport a firearm for any lawful purpose from any place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm to any other place where he may lawfully possess and carry such firearm" on stated conditions: the firearm is unloaded, and "neither the firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily accessible or is directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such transporting vehicle." In a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver's compartment, the firearm or ammunition "shall be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console."

The federal and Massachusetts container rules are not written to the same facts. The s.121 definition does list a locked console and a locked glovebox among the things that qualify, but it lists them "in an unoccupied motor vehicle." The 926A proviso excludes both, and it governs the transporting vehicle while the trip is under way. A traveler relying on both should satisfy the stricter one and keep the firearm out of the glove compartment and console.

Snow vehicles and recreation vehicles

MGL c.90B s.26(g) reaches off-road machines: "No person shall carry a firearm ... in or on a snow vehicle or recreation vehicle or on a trailer or sled attached thereto unless such person possesses the required license to carry or firearm identification card issued under sections 129B or 131, of chapter 140 and carries such firearm in compliance with section 131C of chapter 140." Violations "shall be penalized in accordance with section 131C." The subsection does not reach a law enforcement officer or other person with enforcement powers authorized in MGL c.90B s.32, or a paraplegic under MGL c.131 s.65.

Long guns carried on a public way

MGL c.269 s.12D governs the moment a rifle or shotgun leaves the vehicle onto a public way. Subsection (a) prohibits 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) prohibits carrying an unloaded one there "unless such rifle or shotgun is enclosed in a case." Subsection (c) requires confiscation on conviction.

Subsection (d) exempts government officers, military and service members, and duly authorized municipal law enforcement acting within the scope of duties or training, and separately exempts "a person who is lawfully engaged in hunting and is the holder of a valid hunting or sporting license issued pursuant to chapter 131."

Feeding devices, common carriers, and importing for a criminal purpose

MGL c.140 s.131M(c) allows a large capacity feeding device lawfully possessed on September 13, 1994 to be moved "while traveling to and from" the locations that subsection lists, "provided, that the large capacity feeding device is stored unloaded and secured in a locked container in accordance with sections 131C and 131L."

MGL c.140 s.129C(c) lets common carriers and their authorized employees and agents possess firearms and ammunition without a license or card while performing "the regular and ordinary transport of firearms and ammunition as merchandise for customers duly licensed to permit such transport," so long as they meet the s.131C and s.131L requirements.

MGL c.269 s.10I, as replaced by St. 2024 c.135, SECTION 134, punishes transporting a firearm into the commonwealth for criminal activity, and punishes transport aimed at an unlawful transfer to a prohibited person more severely still.

Penalties at a glance