A coalition of native gun advocates is pushing the state’s highest court docket to order the discharge of a embellished Air Power veteran from jail whereas he awaits trial on gun possession fees, arguing that two judges incorrectly discovered the person harmful and made him a “political prisoner.”
The arrest and pre-trial detention of Kyle Culotta, a 51-year-old who traveled to Massachusetts this summer season along with his fiancée, Sarandë Jackson, is the newest flashpoint in a battle to strike down a landmark firearms legislation Beacon Hill Democrats authorised in July 2024 and Gov. Maura Healey declared an emergency measure months later.
Jim Wallace, the manager director of the Gun Homeowners’ Motion League, an area affiliate of the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation, stated Second Modification advocates who oppose the greater than year-old gun legislation are “planting our flag” with Culotta’s case.
“We still don’t know why he’s being held,” Wallace stated of Culotta exterior the State Home Thursday. “He’s a political prisoner. I would hate to use that term, but what other term are we supposed to use? This is our fight. This right here, nationwide, is the fight of the Second Amendment.”
Culotta was arrested June 24 in Gardner, a day after he entered the state, after police discovered three handguns, 5 rifles, and a “fully stocked military-style ammo” case in a automobile he was driving throughout a visitors cease, authorities stated. Culotta additionally had a pistol in his pocket whereas speaking to police, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
The previous Air Power postal specialist didn’t have a Massachusetts license to hold the firearms, however knowledgeable cops that he had weapons within the automotive and the pistol in his pocket when he was pulled over driving Jackson’s automobile, court docket paperwork stated.
Two judges later discovered Culotta posed a menace to the area people and ordered him held with out bail whereas his case performs out in court docket, selections Jackson stated are “literally political because this law they passed.”
“He is a gentle soul. He is the most well-read, most intelligent person I’ve ever met in my entire life. We’ve been talking for over 20 years, and we’ve never stopped, and we never intend to. And it breaks my heart to see him treated like this, because he doesn’t deserve it,” Jackson stated after an occasion organized by The Civil Rights Coalition, a gaggle that efficiently gathered signatures to put a query on the 2026 poll asking residents to overturn the 2024 gun legislation.
Culotta doesn’t have a prison report, in keeping with his lawyer, besides for 3 pot-related offenses courting again to 2006 and 2007.
A spokesperson for Worcester County District Legal professional Joseph Early, whose workplace is prosecuting the case, declined to remark.
Massachusetts requires gun house owners to have a firearms identification card, and other people from out of state sometimes must get a nonresident momentary license except they meet a handful of exemptions. The Bay State additionally doesn’t acknowledge gun licenses from different states.
Daniel Hagan, an lawyer representing Culotta who’s being paid for by Massachusetts gun rights teams, has appealed Culotta’s detention to the Supreme Judicial Court docket.
The enchantment to the state’s highest court docket comes after a district court docket decide in Gardner ordered Culotta be held with out bail as a result of he had a big capability firearm and different unlicensed weapons, in keeping with court docket information.
Culotta unsuccessfully appealed the choice in Worcester County Superior Court docket.
A Superior Court docket decide dominated that Culotta ought to be held behind bars as a result of he had “multiple guns + rifles incl loaded + also incl lg cap,” a reference to the a number of firearms discovered within the automobile and a big capability journal within the pistol, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
However Hagan argued that the Superior Court docket decide didn’t provide sufficient proof, and merely crammed out an ordinary detention type with little clarification.
Hagan additionally stated all of the firearms within the automobile had been unloaded besides the handgun in Culotta’s pocket.
“This was not a man entering the state with the intention to harm others with his firearms, this was a man immigrating to Massachusetts with what remained of his property,” Hagan stated. “There has been absolutely no showing that, by clear and convincing evidence, Mr. Culotta was both dangerous and unable to safely be returned to society.”
The Superior Court docket decide additionally stated Culotta’s “ties to (Arizona)” had been sufficient to maintain him behind bars.
Hagan stated Culotta has “significant family ties” to Massachusetts, together with that he was elevating a baby with Jackson, had begun working within the state, and deliberate to reside with Jackson and her mom in North Oxford.
“Had Mr. Culotta driven across the country with nothing but his firearms, keeping them all fully loaded, while leaving all of his other property behind, it may have been more reasonable to presume that he posed a danger to society, Hagan said. “Here, though, Mr. Culotta left Arizona with all of his lawfully-owned property with the intention of making Massachusetts his home.”
