Is there really a mandatory minimum for firearms charges?

Yes. Certain Massachusetts firearms charges carry mandatory minimum sentences, which can significantly impact defense strategy and possible outcomes.

The gun was not mine and was not on me. Can I still be charged?

Yes. However, prosecutors must prove possession, knowledge, and control over the firearm based on the facts of the case.

Can a firearms case be dismissed because of an illegal search?

If a firearm was discovered through an unlawful search, stop, seizure, or entry, the defense may challenge the evidence through suppression motions.

I have a license but stored my firearm incorrectly. Is that a crime?

Massachusetts has strict firearm storage requirements. Improper storage can result in criminal charges even for licensed firearm owners.

What happens to my firearm license while my case is pending?

The effect on a firearm license depends on the charges, case status, and applicable Massachusetts firearm laws.

Firearms Charges Defense in Somerville, MA

Massachusetts Treats a Legal Gun From Another State as a Crime Here

A traffic stop on Soldiers Field Road. A landlord walking through an apartment on Washington Street. A motorist’s suitcase that rattles a front windshield. Each has in some recent stories in Somerville begun – and a Large share of them involve people who did nothing they thought was illegal in other trial abiding. The Law Office of Peter Cole defends people charged with unlicensed carrying, unlawful possession of a firearm, because violations, ammunition charges and other enhanced charges that get stacked on top of them. In Somerville and across greater Boston, the first-job-in-overview of these cases run the same question: the gun was found after a law-breaking stop but the law The Commonwealth can prove there was a firearm, and you did not have a license for it, the firearm may get excluded from evidence of the police found it through an unlawful search. There may also be room to challenge whether you possessed the firearm. Just because it was in your car doesn’t mean there.

Firearms Charges We Handle in Somerville

Carrying a Firearm Without a License

The main charge, brought under Chapter 269, Section 10(a). It applies to carrying a firearm outside your home or business without a valid Massachusetts license, including in a car, a bag, or a glove compartment. It carries a mandatory minimum sentence, which is what makes it different from almost every other charge in the district court.

Unlawful Possession of a Firearm or Ammunition

Section 10(h) covers possession without a firearm identification card, including inside your own home. Ammunition alone is enough. People are charged over a handful of loose rounds in a closet years after the gun itself was sold.

Improper Storage

Chapter 140, Section 131L requires a firearm to be secured in a locked container or fitted with a tamper-resistant lock whenever it is not under your direct control. A gun in a nightstand is a storage violation even if you are licensed and even if you are the only person living there.

Carrying a Loaded Firearm

Section 10(n) adds a separate charge, and a separate sentence, when the firearm carried without a license was loaded. It is added routinely rather than occasionally.

Large Capacity Firearms and Feeding Devices

Massachusetts defines large capacity by magazine capacity, and the threshold is lower than most people expect. A standard factory magazine sold legally in another state frequently falls inside the Massachusetts definition, which converts a possession charge into a considerably more serious one.

Possession of a Firearm During a Felony

Chapter 265, Section 18B attaches when a firearm is alleged to have been possessed while another felony was committed. It runs on top of the underlying case and carries its own mandatory time.

Defaced or Altered Serial Numbers

Possessing a firearm with a removed or obliterated serial number is charged separately under Chapter 269, Section 11C, and the Commonwealth does not have to prove you were the one who altered it.

Armed Career Criminal Enhancements

Chapter 269, Section 10G raises exposure sharply for anyone with prior violent or drug convictions on their record. Whether those priors actually qualify is a legal question worth fighting, because the difference between qualifying and not is measured in years.

What Massachusetts Firearms Penalties Look Like

Carrying Without a License

Related Charges

Unlawful possession without an FID card: up to two years in a house of correction and a fine
Improper storage: a fine and up to a year of incarceration, with much higher exposure where a large capacity weapon is involved
Carrying a loaded firearm: additional incarceration, imposed on top of the underlying sentence

What the Sentence Does Not Cover

A conviction permanently ends your ability to hold a Massachusetts license to carry or an FID card
Federal law bars firearm possession for life after most felony convictions, which reaches people whose case resolves in state court and who never think about the federal side
The charge appears in background checks, housing applications, and professional licensing reviews, and firearms allegations draw more attention than most

Suppression work comes first, not last. The stop, the exit order, the search, and the warrant get examined before anything is conceded, because that analysis determines what kind of case this actually is.
Mandatory minimums change strategy. When the charge carries required time, the usual district court paths do not apply. Cases like these need to be built for trial from the beginning, whether or not they end there.
Out-of-state clients are understood. A lawful gun owner from another state who drove into Boston is in a different position from someone with a record, and the case should be presented that way.
You work with Attorney Cole directly. Attorney Cole personally handles your case from start to finish, providing direct guidance throughout the legal process.
Local courts work in local ways. Somerville matters are heard in the Somerville Division of the Boston Municipal Court, with more serious firearms cases moving to Suffolk Superior Court, and knowing how both operate shapes strategy from the outset.

Years in practice, bar admissions, trial experience, suppression motions won, notable case results, dismissals obtained, and client reviews. These are the strongest trust signals available on a legal page and they matter to readers and to search engines both. Please add them before this page goes live.

Almost every one of these cases lives or dies on the search. A gun cannot be introduced as evidence if it was found through an unlawful stop, an unlawful exit order, an unlawful frisk, an unlawful vehicle search, or an unlawful entry into a home. Motions to suppress are not a formality in firearms work. They are usually the case itself.
Possession has to be proved, not assumed. The Commonwealth must show you knew the firearm was there and had both the ability and the intent to control it. Being in a car with three other people, or renting a room in a shared Somerville apartment, is not possession. These charges get filed against everyone present and frequently do not survive scrutiny.
A firearm has a legal definition. The Commonwealth must prove the item met the statutory definition, including that it was capable of discharging a shot. Ballistics testing is not always done, is not always done properly, and is not always admissible in the form the Commonwealth offers it.
Licensing status is often more complicated than the report suggests. Applications pending, licenses recently expired, renewals filed on time and processed late, and valid out-of-state credentials all change the analysis. So do the statutory exemptions covering transport to a range, a move between residences, and hunting.
Where the gun was matters as much as whether it existed. The distinction between carrying and possessing turns on location, and that distinction is the difference between a mandatory minimum and a district court misdemeanor.

1. Free Case Review

We go through the stop or the entry, what officers said, what you said, where the firearm was, and what your licensing situation actually is. You get an honest read on the exposure, including whether a mandatory minimum is in play. No charge, no obligation.

2. The Search Comes Apart First

We map every step officers took and identify where the authority for each one came from. Why was the car stopped? Why was anyone ordered out? What justified the frisk or the search. What did the warrant application actually say?

3. Evidence and Discovery

We request the police report, the 911 recording, bodycam and dashcam footage, dispatch and CAD records, booking video, the warrant and its supporting affidavit, the ballistics certificate, and the full chain of custody on the firearm.

How We Handle Your Firearms Case

4. Possession and Licensing

We examine whether the Commonwealth can prove knowledge and control, and we pull your complete licensing history, including applications, renewals, and processing dates. Both of these lines of defense are frequently stronger than they look on the first read.

5. Motion Practice

Where the search or the seizure was unlawful, we file to suppress and litigate it. A successful motion often ends the prosecution rather than trimming it, which is why this stage gets the most attention.

6. Resolution or Trial

Some of these cases should be dismissed, some negotiated, and some tried. That decision is made with you, with the trade offs explained plainly, including the licensing and immigration consequences that never appear on a sentencing sheet.

Frequently Asked Questions

My license is valid in my home state. Does that help?

Not on its own. Massachusetts does not recognize out-of-state licenses to carry, so a lawfully owned firearm from another state can still support a charge here. It does matter to how the case is presented and resolved.

Is there really a mandatory minimum?

For carrying a firearm without a license, yes. Eighteen months must be served before release, which is why avoiding conviction on that specific charge is the priority rather than negotiating the sentence.

The gun was not mine and was not on me. Am I still charged?

Often, yes. Everyone in a car or an apartment gets charged, then the Commonwealth has to prove each person knew about the firearm and could control it. Mere presence is not enough.

Can the case be thrown out over how it was found?

It happens regularly. If the stop, the frisk, the search, or the entry was unlawful, the firearm cannot be used as evidence, and without it there is usually nothing left.

I am licensed but stored it in a drawer. Is that a charge?

It can be. Massachusetts requires a locked container or a tamper-resistant lock whenever the firearm is not under your direct control, and being licensed does not exempt you.

What happens to my license while the case is pending?

Expect it to be suspended or revoked and your firearms seized. Getting them back is a separate process that follows the outcome of the criminal case.

Can a firearms charge be sealed later?

A case ending in dismissal or a not guilty finding can often be sealed. Convictions become eligible after a waiting period. Sealing is a separate application filed after the case ends and it does not happen automatically.

Get a Free Case Review

Firearms cases reward early work more than almost any other charge. Bodycam footage is overwritten on a schedule. Dispatch recordings expire. Grand jury dates and dangerousness hearings arrive quickly, and a mandatory minimum means there is far less room to recover from a slow start.
Call 617-935-7657 or fill out the form for a free, confidential case review.