MIT Guide to Lock Picking by Ted the Tool - HTML preview

Chapter

266

(crimes

against

prop

ert

y)

Section

49.

Burglarious

instruments;

making;

p ossession;

use.

Who ever

mak

es

or

mends,

or

b egins

to

mak

e

or

mend,

or

kno

wingly

has

in

his

p ossession,

an

engine,

machine,

to ol

or

implement

adapted

and

designed

for

cutting

through,

forcing

or

breaking

op

en

a

building,

ro

om,

v

ault,

safe

or

other

dep ository

,

IN

ORDER

TO

STEAL

THEREFROM

money

or

other

prop erty

,

or

to

commit

an

y

other

crime,

knowing

the

same

to

b e

adapted

and

designed

for

the

purp ose

aforesaid,

WITH

INTENT

TO

USE

OR

EMPLO

Y

OR

ALLO

W

the

same

to

b e

used

or

employ

ed

for

such

purp ose,

or

who ever

kno

wingly

has

in

his

p ossession

a

master

key

designed

to

t

more

than

one

motor

vehicle,

WITH

INTENT,

TO

USE

OR

EMPLOY

THE

SAME

to

steal

a

motor

v

ehicle

or

other

prop erty

therefrom,

shall

b e

punished

by

imprisonment

in

the

state

prison

for

not

more

than

ten

y

ears

or

by

a

ne

of

not

more

than

one

thousand

dollars

and

imprisonment

in

jail

for

not

more

than

tw

o

and

one

half

y

ears.

Emphasis

added.

In

other

w

ords,

mere

p ossession

means

nothing.

If

they

stop

you

for

sp eeding

or

something,

and

nd

a

pick

set,

they

can't

do

m

uc

h.

On

the

other

hand,

if

they

catc

h

you

picking

the

lo

c

k

on

a

Monec

machine

they

get

to

draw

and

quarter

you.

States

with

similar

wording

include

ME,

NH,

NY.

One

place

that

DOES

NOT

ha

v

e

similar

wording,

and

do es

mak

e

p

ossession

illegal,

is

W

ashington,

DC.

These

are

the

only

other

places

I

ha

v

e

chec

k

ed.

I

would

imagine

that

most

states

are

similar

to

Massach

usetts,

but

I

w

ould

not

b et

anything

substantial

(say

,

more

than

a

slice

of

pizza)

on

it.

It

may

b e

a

go o

d

idea

to

carry

around

a

xeroxed

cop

y

of

the

appropriate

page

from

your

state's

criminal

co de.

48