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Dupre v. Executive Office of Pub. Safety

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS APPEALS COURT
Apr 13, 2012
11-P-167 (Mass. Apr. 13, 2012)

Opinion

11-P-167

04-13-2012

EDWARD DUPRE v. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF PUBLIC SAFETY & others.


NOTICE: Decisions issued by the Appeals Court pursuant to its rule 1:28 are primarily addressed to the parties and, therefore, may not fully address the facts of the case or the panel's decisional rationale. Moreover, rule 1:28 decisions are not circulated to the entire court and, therefore, represent only the views of the panel that decided the case. A summary decision pursuant to rule 1:28, issued after February 25, 2008, may be cited for its persuasive value but, because of the limitations noted above, not as binding precedent.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 1:28

The plaintiff's application for a firearm license was denied because he had previously been adjudicated a juvenile delinquent for possessing 'brass knuckles' in violation of G. L. c. 269, § 10(b). This denial was confirmed through the proper administrative appeal process and on judicial review. We agree with the judge and licensing authority and therefore affirm.

Under the statutory scheme governing firearm licensure, an applicant may not be granted a license if he has 'been convicted or adjudicated a youthful offender or delinquent child for the commission of (a) a felony.' G. L. c. 140, § 131(d)(i), as amended by St. 1998, c. 358, § 6. 'A crime punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison is a felony. All other crimes are misdemeanors.' G. L. c. 274, § 1. The crime for which the defendant was indisputably adjudicated delinquent was a felony because '[w]hoever, except as provided by law, carries on his person . . . metallic knuckles . . . shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than two and one-half years nor more than five years in the state prison' (emphasis added). G. L. c. 269, § 10(b), amended by St. 1975, c. 585, § 1.

The plaintiff asserts that because the statute criminalizing possession of metallic knuckles and other weapons provides first time offenders with the possibility of a lesser penalty (namely a fine or house of correction incarceration) those defendants, like him, not previously convicted of a felony could not be convicted of a felony. This argument lacks any rational basis and is entirely unavailing. The plaintiff's assertion that a crime is not a felony unless the defendant is actually punished by confinement in a State prison is in conflict with the plain language of the statute. As stated supra, the defining statute states that crimes are felonies if they are 'punishable by . . . imprisonment in the state prison.' G. L. c. 274, § 1.

Among the more obvious departures from common sense represented by this interpretation is that an individual repeatedly convicted of carrying brass knuckles will, on each occasion, not previously have been convicted of a felony.

Judgment affirmed.

By the Court (Vuono, Grainger & Carhart, JJ.),


Summaries of

Dupre v. Executive Office of Pub. Safety

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS APPEALS COURT
Apr 13, 2012
11-P-167 (Mass. Apr. 13, 2012)
Case details for

Dupre v. Executive Office of Pub. Safety

Case Details

Full title:EDWARD DUPRE v. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF PUBLIC SAFETY & others.

Court:COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS APPEALS COURT

Date published: Apr 13, 2012

Citations

11-P-167 (Mass. Apr. 13, 2012)