CONCORD, N.H. – New Hampshire’s attorney general says residents who cross state lines with their guns should not be subject to “felony convictions and imprisonment” for violating Massachusetts law.
Attorney General John Formella filed briefs with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Monday in support of two New Hampshire men who were charged with carrying guns in Massachusetts without firearms licenses. A Lowell District Court judge previously ruled that Massachusetts can’t prosecute out-of-state residents for illegally carrying guns if they were legally entitled to have them in their home state.
“By challenging Massachusetts’ restrictive firearm laws, we are affirming that constitutional freedoms should not be undermined by inconsistent and overly burdensome regulations,” Formella said in a statement. “This is all about ensuring that responsible gun owners can protect themselves without fear of unjust legal consequences when they cross state borders.”
One of the New Hampshire defendants, Philip Marquis, was in a car crash on Interstate 495 in Massachusetts. He says he told police he had a pistol on him, but did not have a license to carry in Massachusetts.
“Massachusetts, like many states, deals with significant and substantial crime in its communities,” the filing from Formella’s office says. “Accordingly, it is illogical to think that the moment a New Hampshire citizen crosses the border into Massachusetts that he or she is stripped of his or her constitutionally protected right to self-defense.”
Formella also references the Pheasant Lane Mall in his arguments, pointing out that the state border runs right through the mall’s parking lot and could present a problem for those in New Hampshire who are legally carrying a gun.
“Surely the Second Amendment’s protection of a person’s right to carry a firearm for self-defense is not so fragile as to allow Massachusetts to compel a New Hampshire citizen to choose between exercising his or her right to self-defense and visiting the Buffalo Wild Wings at the Pheasant Lane Mall,” the filing says.
“You get caught with a gun in Massachusetts, you’re in for one of the most traumatic experiences of your life. This is not a glorified speeding ticket,” retired Massachusetts judge Jack Lu told WBZ-TV.
“It doesn’t help to lock them up though. You can do a lot of things to people besides lock them up. You can change their behavior better that way, than by locking them up.”
In appealing the Lowell judge’s ruling, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said the defendants did not try to get a non-resident license to carry firearms in the state and were treated “exactly the same as Massachusetts residents” under the law.
“The judge’s rationale deprives the Commonwealth of its right and obligation to enforce its laws equally for all those who are within its borders,” Ryan wrote.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell has also filed a brief in the case, defending her state’s policies.
“Massachusetts applies its laws evenly to residents and non-residents alike,” Campbell said in a statement. “Nothing in the Constitution prohibits Massachusetts law enforcement officers from enforcing state law within its own borders, simply because someone is from a different state.”
The case is scheduled to come before the Supreme Judicial Court on Sept. 9.
