Legal News

Mass. court upholds state gun-lock requirement

The highest court in Massachusetts has upheld the constitutionality of a state law that requires gun owners to lock weapons in their homes, a ruling seen as a victory for gun-control advocates.

Gun-control proponents argued that the law saves lives because it requires guns to be kept in a locked container or equipped with a trigger lock when not under the owner's control. Opponents pointed to a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said people have a constitutional right to keep weapons for self-defense.

The state Supreme Judicial Court ruled Wednesday that the Second Amendment does not overrule the state's right to require owners to store guns safely.

The case involves a Billerica, Mass., man who was charged with improperly storing a shotgun, a rifle and ammunition.

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Will Missouri Nullify Federal Gun Laws?

Missouri State Representative Cynthia Davis has introduced the “Firearms Freedom Act” (HB1230) – prefiled for the 2010 legislative session. The bill “Asserts the right of the State of Missouri to regulate the intrastate use and acquisition of certain firearms pursuant to the reserved powers of the state over intrastate commerce and the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.”

While the bill’s title focuses solely federal gun regulations, it has far more to do with the 10th Amendment’s mandate that powers not delegated to the federal government are “reserved to the states, respectively, or to the people.” It states:

Amendment X of the Constitution of the United States guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the Constitution and reserves to the state and people of Missouri certain powers as they were understood at the time that Missouri was admitted to statehood. The guarantee of those powers is a matter of contract between the state and people of Missouri and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Missouri and the United State

Amendment II of the Constitution of the United States reserves to the people the right to keep and bear arms as that right was understood at the time that Missouri was admitted to statehood, and the guarantee of the right is a matter of contract between the state and people of Missouri and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Missouri and the United States

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