Posted on 10/06/2008 12:46:14 PM PDT by neverdem
Are You Illegally Possessing A Firearm in Violation of Massachusetts Law?
By Peter Robbins Would it be considered a "contract" if a firearms identification (FID) card, which allows the bearer to own firearms, was issued that stated the valid period was "indefinite" or "until revoked"?
A 2002 report released by the Commonwealth's House Post and Oversight Committee reported the state of Massachusetts failed to notify nearly 750,000 gun owners that their FID cards would prematurely expire due to the Massachusetts Gun Control Act of 1998.
Did the 1998 law turn some of our law-abiding citizens into felons?
These questions are now being asked by many people: some involved from indictments, some who are sitting at home in fear.
What position are you in? Are you one who felt comfortable knowing you had a license issued for an indefinite period?
In 1998, there were 1,280,643 FID card holders in Massachusetts. According to published reports, the Commonwealth estimates that notices were mailed out to only 43 percent of the license holders, due to address changes and the lack of information relative to the identity of the licensing authority (the local police chief who issued the card.)
A poll, if it didn't result in innocent people going to jail, would be an interesting piece of research.
Numerous law-abiding citizens are sitting in their living room as they read this story, knowing full well they have probably have Dad's or Uncle Harry's pistol or rifle or, God help them, a "High Capacity" M1 carbine from World War II in the closet.
The state law on securing a firearm was geared toward homes having children in them to limit access. Is a locked home considered a secure area? Likely not with children present, but what about us older baby boomers with no more babes at home?
Or what about the widow whose husband was a collector or avid hunter with numerous types of weapons? She too is in violation of the law and subject to the same legal process recently reported concerning Truro writer Peter Manso - who was arraigned Wednesday on firearms charges - should she not have the proper license. I really do not think many widows in their 80s have a license to carry, although I do know a few.
Trigger locks are wonderful devices as are locked gun safes, though they are a little cumbersome in the middle of the night when the door is being kicked in.
An Army Special Forces veteran, Michael Oliveira, was arrested in Freetown during the summer of 2007 after a reported 5-hour-stand-off with the Freetown police and Massachusetts state police.
Police responded to the residence after a 911 call from Oliveira's wife alleging an assault.
In a safe in the house, police found three rifles, two handguns, ammunition, knives, a digital scale, gunpowder, a band of .50 caliber ammunition, and magazines for assault rifles and pistols.
Oliveira had purchased the weapons legally, but his licenses to carry the firearms had expired.
Charges stemming from the incident ran from attempted murder, unlawful possession of assault rifles and ammunition, domestic assault and battery to six counts of possession of a firearm without an FID card.
Greg Miliote, a spokesman for the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, subsequently said prosecutors chose not to prosecute on the attempted murder charge for "numerous practical reasons" that included a desire to prosecute the case quickly in district court, according to on-line news sources.
Final charges on the defendant charges included the assault and battery charge, possession of firearms without an FID card, and possession of marijuana.
Ironically, on Jan. 10, 2008, District Court Judge Robert Welsh acquitted Oliveira of all criminal charges, and fined him for not having a current FID card when police arrested him. Oliveira was given one year to renew his FID card for all six weapons.
At the time, Freetown Police Chief Carlton Abbott was quoted as saying, "With the way the law is written, it's my understanding since he has no convictions for violent crimes, he probably will succeed in obtaining the FID card."
Chief Abbott went on to say that Oliveira will likely be approved for a new FID card whenever he applies to the Freetown Police Department.
I think I’ll keep my FU Mass card ...
YES!
In NH, there is no restriction on firearms ownership for non-felons. For a CCW permit, every five years you go to your chief of police, pay $10 and get a new card. That's it. No tests, no hassles - the way it should be.
So, if you are a conservative who respects firearms rights and likes low taxes, please consider moving here because we need to offset the influx of moonbats from beyond our borders. Otherwise, we'll end up just like Massachusetts - a formerly free territory of what once was the United States of America.
This is 'chump' change in my book. "Three rifles, two handguns......bwaaaaahahhhaaaaaahh!
Also, Dred Scott may apply for owners who purchased in one state and moved to MA.
Dred Scott?
Hilarity may certainly ensue.
In NYC, "assault weapons" were registered before they were banned outright. Letters were sent out to registrants, saying "turn 'em in". In one notable case, they got a reply: "come get 'em". They went to get 'em, with an oh-dark-thirty dynamic entry raid. The occupants were surprised and unamused. The registrant and respondent was amused, comfortable in his Montana home, where the confiscation letter had been forwarded to.
Moral: Rule 4 - know your target.
Ditto.
Someone should start a MA ping list.
Do they still have the big signs at the border warning of a mandatory prison sentence, if you bring a gun across state lines?
Thank God I live in Free America. No license needed to buy, own, carry openly or carry concealed.
I'm not from MA, nor do I live there. Infringement anywhere is a threat.
" States do not have the right to claim an individual’s property that was fairly theirs in another state. Property cannot cease to exist as a result of changing jurisdiction ..."
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE
Sounds like an excuse for the marxist republic of massachusets to turn honest, normal, law-abiding people into “criminals”, and take away their guns, fine them, and put them in jail, while deliberately leaving guns in the hands of criminals.
There used to be one here.
There are quite a few Bay State FReepers.
Oh, that is very interesting as applied to NFA law...
Of course we wouldn’t want to have it go before a communist Democrat Party judge, unless we had a good talk with him/her first.
Gotta have enough for you, your family, your neighbors, and like-minded individuals if need be.
Remember 2000? They tried to steal the White House in broad daylight. Take the race factor stir it up REAL GOOD, God Help Us All.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QcpdUtxNQ
How about Obama openly campaigning for his communist cousin Odinga who signed a pact with Muslims to enact Sharia Law if elected and started riots when he lost. Obama campaigned for an openly Anti-American candidate in a foreign country in 2006.
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