After I finished cleaning up my brass at the range on Saturday, I noticed an extra spent .45 case and put it in my pocket. Since it was about 110 degrees in Boston, my wife and I went straight to my parents' pool for the afternoon. I sat outside on the deck for a while, went swimming and left without realizing that the spent case had fallen out of my pocket onto their deck.
The next day I stopped by there again for a barbecue and they told me what I accidentally left them. Here's why this matters. Their possession of that spent case, that inert tube of brass, was a felony in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If caught with it, they faced jail time and tens of thousands of dollars in fines. It doesn't matter that it wasn't live ammunition, as MGL makes no distinction between live rounds and components.
The same danger applies if you let someone without an LTC or FID borrow your car and there's a spent case in the trunk. If a cop finds it and wants to be a jerk, your friend is in trouble.
I'm not aware of any other states that criminalize innocent people for accidental possession of inert ammo components.
Thoughts on competitive shooting, gunsmithing, gun control and what it's like to be a Massachusetts gun owner.
Pulled a spent .22 case out of my pocket this weekend. Probably got tossed there from Jay's .22 converted Sig226 a week earlier.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you need an FID or better to posses ammunition and components is such a stupid law.
Start throwing spent cases into the yards of noted politicians, journalists, activists, and business leaders.
ReplyDelete