After months in pretrial detention, an Air Force veteran is released on bail after being charged with illegally possessing guns shortly after landing in a state with stricter gun laws than where he came from. Kyle Culotta, a former Air Force postal specialist, was detained when firearms purchased legally in Arizona were discovered during a routine police stop in Massachusetts.
The case has become a proxy fight for gun rights groups attempting to change the statute that led to Culotta’s detention in the 2026 election.
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On June 23, Culotta drove from Arizona to Massachusetts with his girlfriend, Sarandë Jackson. They were living in her car and planned to settle in the Bay State. Meanwhile, Jackson informed the Boston Herald that they were delivering food via DoorDash.
2024 arrest
According to the Gun Owners Action League (GOAL), a National Rifle Association-affiliated law firm that represents Culotta, he was pulled over a day after landing in Massachusetts for having an expired registration. Police informed the couple that their car will be towed due to a lack of insurance and directed them to remove their possessions from it.
Officers discovered Culotta in the car with multiple guns and one magazine containing more rounds than Massachusetts law allows. The Boston Herald claims that police discovered three handguns, five rifles, and a “fully stocked military-style ammo” container in addition to the handgun he was carrying. He was detained and denied bail under the state’s “dangerousness law,” which allows those accused of specific firearms charges to be imprisoned without bond for up to 120 days.
Push for bail
Jackson spent months advocating for Culotta’s release. She launched an internet fundraising drive to cover legal fees and eventual bail. However, Culotta’s counsel were unsuccessful in three different bail requests.
Culotta was imprisoned under a law designed to keep violent offenders behind bars before being tried on major gun offenses. Culotta’s counsel informed the Boston Herald that he had a clean record, with the exception of three cannabis-related charges in 2006 and 2007, and had never been incarcerated.
“The fact that a U.S. citizen can be detained without bail for exercising a civil right without government permission is unconscionable and unconstitutional,” Jim Wallace, executive director of GOAL, wrote in a case-specific page.
On October 21, a Gardner District Court judge agreed not to extend Culotta’s “dangerousness” custody. Jackson posted bond on Monday, resulting in his release.
Massachusetts law
Massachusetts firearms laws are among the most severe in the country. According to gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, the state has the second strongest gun restrictions in the US.
Massachusetts does not recognize other states’ gun licenses, a process called reciprocity. New residents who own guns must obtain a weapons license within 60 days of moving to the state and are only permitted to retain their firearms in their house during that period. Lawyers alleged Culotta and his girlfriend were living in their car.
Culotta was charged with possessing a magazine that could hold more than ten rounds of ammunition as well as possessing an “assault-style firearm.” In 2024, the state banned “large capacity feeding devices” of this sort.
Ballot measure
Culotta’s incarceration has become the latest rallying cry for gun rights groups seeking to abolish Massachusetts’ landmark gun legislation enacted in 2024.
In the November 2026 election, voters will have the option of rolling back the law through the Massachusetts Firearm Regulations Referendum. The referendum would abolish the law that prohibited assault-style rifles and “ghost guns,” mandated training programs before acquiring a firearm owner’s permit, and implemented red-flag laws, among other provisions. The measure was passed following a string of mass shootings in the state.
Wallace told the Herald that they were using Culotta’s case to draw light on state legislation and national gun rights in general.
“This is our fight,” he said in September. “This right here, nationwide, is the fight of the Second Amendment.”
