Commonwealth v. Mcgowan

464 Mass. 232 (2013)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

General Laws c. 140, § 131L(a), makes it unlawful to store a firearm that is not carried by or under the immediate control of the owner or other authorized user unless the firearm is secured in a locked container or equipped with a safety device that renders the firearm inoperable by anyone other than the owner or other authorized user. D owned a Smith & Wesson 40 caliber semiautomatic handgun, which he kept loaded and unlocked in a bedroom side table drawer on the second floor of his home. d had a valid license to carry a firearm in Massachusetts. Officers were dispatched to d's house in response to a telephone call he made about a domestic disturbance. D reported that he had an argument with his female 'roommate' over a ten-dollar loan, and that his roommate became angry, went into d's bedroom, retrieved his loaded handgun from the unlocked drawer, left the house, threw the firearm into the bushes beside the neighboring house, and locked d out of the house when he left to retrieve the weapon. The officers secured the handgun. D told police that the firearm was loaded that way when the roommate took it. D was charged in a criminal complaint. D moved to dismiss the complaint, claiming the statute is unconstitutional. The court certified questions.