Child Access Prevention & Safe Storage Laws in Massachusetts

Last updated August 29, 2024 .

Child Access Prevention & Safe Storage

Massachusetts has a safe storage law. Pursuant to Massachusetts law, it is generally unlawful to store or keep any firearm:

[U]nless 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….For purposes of this section, such firearm shall not be deemed stored or kept if carried by or under the control of the owner or other lawfully authorized user.¹

“Secured in a locked container” means “secured in a container that is capable of being locked 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.”²

Massachusetts law specifies different penalties for violations of this requirement, depending on the type of firearm and whether the firearm was kept or stored in a place where a minor could foreseeably gain unlawful access to the firearm. The law provides stiffer penalties for violating their safe storage requirement if the firearm was stored or kept in a place where a person under 18 may have access to the firearm without committing an unforeseeable trespass.³

Firearms dealers must conspicuously post and distribute at each purchase counter a notice providing information on the safe transportation and storage of firearms.⁴

Any firearm or large capacity firearm sold in Massachusetts without a safety device designed to prevent discharge by unauthorized users is considered defective and the sale of such a weapon shall constitute a breach of warranty and an unfair or deceptive trade act or practice.⁵ The Department of State Police has approved a list of such devices.

In addition, Massachusetts deems it an unfair or deceptive business practice to transfer or offer to transfer any handgun that does not contain a mechanism which precludes an average five year old child from operating a handgun when it is ready to fire. Such mechanisms may include, but are not limited to, a raised trigger resistance, alteration of the firing mechanism so that a child’s hands are too small to operate it, or the requirement of multiple motions in order to fire the weapon. It is also an unfair or deceptive trade practice to transfer or offer to transfer a handgun that does not contain a load indicator or magazine safety disconnect.⁶

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131L.[↩]
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121.[↩]
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131L(c); 131L(d).[↩]
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 123.[↩]
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131K.[↩]
940 Mass. Code Regs. 16.05. Please see 940 Mass. Code Regs. 16.05, 16.06 and 16.07 for additional handgun locking device requirements.[↩]