The statute: A person who carries a loaded firearm in violation of § 10(a) — that is, without a license — faces an additional, consecutive penalty on top of the unlicensed-carrying charge.
What the Commonwealth must prove:
- The defendant committed the offense of unlicensed possession/carrying of a firearm under § 10(a) (see the entry above).
- The firearm was loaded at the time — meaning ammunition was in the weapon (or in a clip or magazine inserted in or attached to it).
Penalties: Up to 2½ years in the house of correction, imposed in addition to and consecutive to any sentence on the underlying § 10(a) charge — on top of that charge’s 18-month mandatory minimum. As with § 10(a), a conviction carries federal firearm-prohibition consequences.
In plain English: “Loaded” is an add-on charge that stacks time. If the gun had rounds in it — or in a magazine in the gun — the exposure on an unlicensed-carrying case goes up significantly, even though it is the same single gun and the same single incident.
How these cases are defended:
- The same suppression litigation as the underlying § 10(a) charge: if the gun is suppressed, both charges fall.
- Disputing whether the firearm was actually “loaded” within the statutory definition — including where the ammunition was located.
- Challenging knowledge: whether the defendant knew the firearm was loaded.
- Negotiating dismissal of the § 10(n) count as part of a global resolution of the gun case.
- Sentencing advocacy aimed at concurrency and mitigation where a plea is in the client’s interest.
This page is general information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice about any specific case. If you are charged with a crime, contact Davis Law Firm, P.C., 132 Lincoln Street, Suite 5L, Boston, MA 02111, (617) 297-4837.
