464 Mass. 232 (2013)
The defendant
was charged with a violation of General Laws c. 140, § 131L(a), for improper
storage of a firearm. The issue is
whether the storage requirements in §
131L(a) are unconstitutional considering the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago
(554 U.S. 570 (2008)), which held that the Second Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution guarantees an individual the right to keep and bear arms for
self-defense in the home and which incorporated the guarantees of the Second
Amendment into the Fourteenth Amendment and thereby applying the Second
Amendment to the States, respectively.
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that § 131L(a) falls
outside the scope of the Second Amendment because it is consistent with the
right to bear arms in self-defense in one’s home and is designed to prevent
those who are not licensed to possess or carry firearms from gaining access to
firearms. Therefore, § 131L(a) is not unconstitutional
and Massachusetts has the authority to regulate laws for reasons of protecting
its citizens’ health, safety, and welfare.
