Unlawful Possession of a Firearm in Massachusetts: Penalties

Unlawful possession of a firearm in Massachusetts carries some of the stiffest penalties in the country, headlined by an 18-month mandatory minimum jail sentence for carrying a firearm without a license that a judge cannot suspend, reduce, or resolve through probation. Related charges reach up to fifteen years in state prison depending on the type of weapon, how it was stored, and whether the person was legally allowed to possess a firearm at all.

The 18-Month Mandatory Minimum for Unlicensed Carrying

Under Chapter 269, Section 10(a), anyone who knowingly possesses a firearm, loaded or unloaded, or has one under their control in a vehicle without a valid Firearm Identification Card or License to Carry faces imprisonment in state prison for two and a half to five years, or in a house of correction for 18 months to two and a half years.¹

The 18 months is an absolute floor, often called the Bartley-Fox penalty. A judge cannot suspend the sentence, grant probation, or authorize early release through parole, work release, or good-conduct credits until the full 18 months have been served.¹

The statute also blocks the usual off-ramps. A Section 10(a) charge cannot be resolved with a “continued without a finding,” the common Massachusetts disposition that lets a charge drop after a probation period without a formal conviction. That option does not exist here. The mandatory minimum applies regardless of a clean record, regardless of whether the firearm was ever fired, and regardless of whether the person was simply sitting in a parked car when police found the gun.

The only narrow exception to serving the full custody term is a temporary release approved by the Commissioner of Correction to attend a relative’s funeral, visit a critically ill family member, or obtain emergency medical care unavailable at the facility.

Unlicensed Possession at Home: Section 10(h)

A separate, far less severe charge applies when someone possesses a firearm or ammunition at home or at a place of business without the required FID card. Under Section 10(h), a first offense carries up to two years in a house of correction or a fine of up to $500. A second offense raises the fine ceiling to $1,000, with up to two years of incarceration, or both.²

Section 10(h) does not carry a mandatory minimum. It applies specifically to failing to comply with the FID-card requirement under Chapter 140, Section 129C, and typically comes up when someone keeps a rifle or shotgun at home without ever getting licensed. The penalties are lighter, but a conviction still creates a criminal record that disqualifies the person from obtaining any firearm license in the future.

Large-Capacity Firearms and Feeding Devices

A large-capacity feeding device under Massachusetts law is any magazine, drum, belt, or similar device that holds more than ten rounds of ammunition or more than five shotgun shells.³ Possessing a prohibited assault-style firearm or large-capacity feeding device under Section 131M carries, for a first conviction, a fine between $1,000 and $10,000, imprisonment from one to ten years, or both. A second offense jumps to a fine between $5,000 and $15,000 and imprisonment from five to fifteen years.⁴

Section 10(m) adds a distinct penalty for possessing a large-capacity firearm or feeding device without a valid License to Carry: two and a half to ten years in state prison. A person who holds a valid FID card but not an LTC avoids the mandatory minimum, though the court still cannot drop the sentence below one year. Like Section 10(a), this charge cannot be continued without a finding or placed on file.²

The 2024 gun safety law also added a registration requirement for anyone who lawfully possessed an assault-style firearm before August 1, 2024. Keeping that weapon legally now depends on registering it and ensuring it carries a serial number under the new system.⁵

Improper Storage Penalties

Massachusetts regulates how firearms are kept, not just who can keep them. Under Section 131L, every firearm must be stored in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock that renders it inoperable to anyone other than the owner or an authorized user. A firearm actively carried or under the owner’s direct control does not count as stored, so the rule applies when the gun is put away at home or elsewhere.⁶

Penalties scale with the weapon and whether a minor could access it:

Non-large-capacity firearm: fine of $1,000 to $7,500, up to one and a half years in a house of correction, or both.
Large-capacity or semiautomatic weapon: fine of $2,000 to $15,000, one and a half to twelve years of imprisonment, or both.
Any firearm accessible to a person under 18: penalties increase further, reaching up to $20,000 and four to fifteen years for a large-capacity weapon stored where a minor could reach it.

Storage charges often stack on top of other offenses. If police discover an unsecured weapon during a domestic disturbance call, the result can be charges on both the underlying incident and the storage violation.

Firearms in Schools and Other Prohibited Places

Carrying a firearm into certain locations is a separate criminal offense even with a valid license. Under Section 10(j), carrying a firearm, loaded or unloaded, on school or college grounds or inside any school building is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment for up to two years, or both. School administrators or faculty members who learn of a violation and fail to report it face a misdemeanor and a fine of up to $500.²

The 2024 gun safety law expanded the broader list of banned locations, now classified as “prohibited areas” under Section 10(k). Possessing a firearm in a prohibited area, when a person knows or should reasonably know they are in one, carries a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to two and a half years, or both.²

Ghost Guns and Unserialized Firearms

Section 131N makes it illegal to possess, sell, manufacture, or import any covert firearm or undetectable firearm, meaning weapons designed to evade standard screening or that lack the characteristics that make them identifiable as firearms.⁵ Privately made firearms, often called ghost guns, must carry a serial number, and the creation, sale, or transfer of an untraceable firearm carries a sentence of one to one and a half years.⁷

Owners who possessed unregistered firearms before the law took effect have a deadline to comply once the state’s electronic registration system goes live; the system was required to be established within one year of the law’s effective date.

Possession by a Prohibited Person

Some people cannot legally possess a firearm regardless of what license they hold. Federal law under the Gun Control Act bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, anyone subject to a domestic-violence restraining order, anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, anyone committed to a mental institution, anyone dishonorably discharged from the military, and anyone who uses controlled substances illegally.⁸

Massachusetts adds its own disqualifications under Chapter 140, including convictions for drug offenses under state or federal law, certain misdemeanor convictions, and commitment to a hospital or institution for mental illness or substance abuse. When someone becomes subject to a restraining order under Chapter 209A, the court orders the immediate surrender of all firearms, ammunition, and firearm licenses, and law enforcement takes possession at the time the order is served. Violating that surrender order is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to two and a half years, or both.⁹

Parallel Federal Charges

Federal firearm laws apply in Massachusetts on top of state law. The National Firearms Act regulates machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, silencers, and destructive devices. Possessing any of these without registering them with the ATF and paying a $200 tax violates federal law, and machine guns manufactured after May 19, 1986, cannot be transferred to or possessed by private citizens at all.¹⁰

The federal prohibited-persons list under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) operates independently of state licensing. Possessing a firearm while under federal indictment for a felony, while subject to certain restraining orders, or while falling into any other prohibited category remains a federal crime carrying up to ten years in federal prison.⁸ A person charged with unlawful possession in Massachusetts can face parallel state and federal prosecutions for the same conduct.

1
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 269 Section 10
2
Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws c.269 Section 10
3
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 140 Section 121
4
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 140 Section 131m
5
General Court of Massachusetts. Acts of 2024 Chapter 135
6
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 140 Section 131L
7
Mass.gov. Governor Healey Signs Gun Safety Legislation Cracking Down on Ghost Guns Strengthening Violence Prevention
8
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons
9
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 209A Section 3b
10
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. National Firearms Act