## Facts

- John McGowan legally owned a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun and held a valid Massachusetts license to carry.
- He stored the handgun loaded and unlocked in a bedroom side-table drawer on the second floor of his home.
- After a dispute, his roommate entered his bedroom, removed the loaded handgun from the unlocked drawer, and threw it into nearby bushes.
- Police responding to McGowan’s call found him outside with the handgun; it was loaded with a round in the chamber.
- The Commonwealth charged McGowan with violating Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131L(a), which requires that a firearm not carried by or under the immediate control of an authorized user be secured in a locked container or made inoperable by a safety device.
- McGowan moved to dismiss, claiming § 131L(a) violated the Second Amendment as construed in Heller and incorporated in McDonald; the trial judge reported questions of law, and the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts took the case on transfer.

## Issues

1. Whether applying Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131L(a) to McGowan’s storage of a loaded handgun in an unlocked drawer violated the Second Amendment.
2. Whether § 131L(a) regulates conduct within the Second Amendment’s protected scope (triggering heightened scrutiny) or outside that scope (allowing rational basis review).
3. Whether the Commonwealth may enforce safe-storage requirements for licensed firearm owners as a public-safety measure consistent with Heller and McDonald.

## Decision

- The Supreme Judicial Court held that § 131L(a), as applied, did not violate the Second Amendment.
- The court concluded the statute falls outside the protected scope of the Second Amendment right as defined in Heller because it does not bar keeping an operable firearm available for immediate self-defense in the home.
- The court applied rational basis review and upheld the statute as a reasonable public-safety measure.
- The reported questions were answered in the Commonwealth’s favor, and the case was remanded for further proceedings, allowing the prosecution to continue.

## Legal Principles

- A safe-storage requirement that applies only when a firearm is not carried by or under the immediate control of an authorized user may be treated as outside the core Second Amendment right to armed self-defense in the home.
- Regulations that do not make lawful firearms unusable for immediate self-defense in the home are materially distinct from laws that require firearms to be kept inoperable at all times.
- When regulated conduct is deemed outside the Second Amendment’s protected scope, a court may apply rational basis review rather than intermediate or strict scrutiny.
- Preventing unauthorized access to firearms by unlicensed persons (including children and prohibited individuals) is a legitimate governmental interest that can justify secure-storage requirements.

## Conclusion

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld the constitutionality of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131L(a), ruling that requiring locked storage or a safety device when a firearm is not under the owner’s immediate control does not infringe the Second Amendment and is a permissible public-safety regulation.


Commonwealth v. McGowan, 464 Mass. 232, 982 N.E.2d 495 (2013)