Massachusetts gun control concealed carry
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Scenes from life in the People’s Republic . . .

At the local level, no town’s firearm laws can override or be less stringent than those set by the state. Confusing matters even further than the baseline state and federal background and fingerprint checks, stringency is not always so black and white, or necessarily applied in accordance with Mass law. The licensing process is often drawn out longer than it is supposed to be, with the majority of municipalities failing to meet the state’s 40-day deadline for application processing. According to the Massachusetts auditor’s report from 2017, only 38 of 347 local licensing authorities had average wait times that were within the mandated limit. The average wait statewide was 65 days.

The Revere Police Department notes on its website that applicants need three letters of recommendation that are not from family members and that are written by people “of good moral character and must have known you for at least five years.” In periods for which numbers are available, Revere’s waiting period has been relatively long, in some cases up to more than 120 days, whereas the wait in some of its neighboring suburbs are on average one-quarter that long.

One Lynn resident who spoke with us applied for his license to carry last year. Jamie Rivera said he understands why towns have different policies and longer application processes. His deference appears to be in line with most Americans; in a Pew Research Center survey conducted last September, less than half of the respondents said the waiting period for buying a gun should be shortened.

“When you apply for a gun in a town that’s closer to a city,” Rivera said, “that’s a lot different than applying for one when you live near the woods.”

Rivera had to complete safety courses, interview with local cops, and pay a fee of $100 with his application. Authorities told him the process could take up to six months. In the end, it took half that long.

“With applying for a license in [dense cities] like Lynn, there’s more likelihood of gun negligence,” Rivera said. “Gun policy tries to combat that by making stricter processes.”

– Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism in Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Guns in Mass (But Were Afraid to Ask)

 

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48 COMMENTS

  1. In the People’s Republic of Taxachussetts, your rights are dependent on the whims of your city’s police chief, literally.

    • And Boston require a range test where you need to score at a certain accuracy level or you you will be denied automatically. And you cannot use your own firearms, you must you the boston police range’s 30 year old POS revolver which hasn’t been cleaned or maintained in decades and has a 12 lb trigger pull. So if you’re a small woman, good luck being able to pull that trigger and shoot accurately.

      And remember folks, the conceal carry license is only good for 6 years, then you go back through the same process, another $100 (no additional classroom course though). Need more reference letters, interview, etc.

      If you are out of state, you must go in person to the state police for the interview, you cannot do any of it by mail and you will pay $100 for that out of state MA conceal carry license and it’s only good for a year, then you need to go through the process in person again next year, etc. And most likely you be rejected anyway. Nice system, they make it a hassle on purpose

      • Actually, one doesn’t need to appear in person _every_ year for non-resident LTC renewal. I think that it’s every 5 years. I’ll need to find out. 😏

  2. Just the usual M-Assachusetts Authoritarianism…
    GOAL.ORG is a little better with info and data.
    But how about this article from last year.
    __________________________________________

    Liberal Vox news exclaims that US Constitutional Infringements and Authoritarianism are the way to go for nationwide gun control. Points to Massachusetts Draconian gun control schemes that discourage gun ownership as best for the nation.

    https://www.vox.com/2018/11/13/17658028/massachusetts-gun-control-laws-licenses

    • This state blows politically. Lived here all my life with no plans to leave. I’ve been fortunate that my Chief LEO and Zoning Commissioner are cool. Otherwise no carry permit or FFL for me. Being a veteran and lawyer doesn’t hurt.

      Still, it’s spectacularly unfair that other folks in other towns are treated differently.

  3. Since when does exercising a right depend on what someone else says about you? Maybe we should do this for the other Amendments too.

    RE: “With applying for a license in [dense cities] like Lynn, there’s more likelihood of gun negligence,” Rivera said. “Gun policy tries to combat that by making stricter processes.”

    Nonsense. Living in/near a highly populated area does not cause people to fumble with a gun more than in other areas. Looks like somebody failed their high school statistics course….

    • I thought the same thing when I read that. Maybe it’s the city pollution that makes people fumble more. Maybe they should have a 6mo waiting period to drive. If they’re that clumsy, I don’t want them on the road with me without additional training.

  4. I’ll keep sayin it, watch the change in sentiment as soon as ” the beautiful people” start becoming victims. They dont all have armed bodyguards!

    • You have not met people from massachusetts. They are complete sheep, at least 65% of them are. Those are the ones who reelected ted kennedy for 50 years, elected john kerry for 30, barney frank for 30, etc.

      They are very happy to do what they are told and will willingly give up rights in a heart beat.

    • There are no “beautiful people” in Mass. Years ago had to go there on business fairly often. Very few good looking women, bad drivers, bad attitudes, bad place.

      JMHO

  5. I propose that we pass a constitutional amendment that makes it so nobody who’s not legal to carry a weapon in public can vote. So if you want to vote in a state like Massachusetts you’ll have to bring in letters from 3 friends who are in good standing, blah, blah, blah and jump through all the hoops to get a carry license, and then you’ll get a card that you must present at the polls before you can vote. And of course you’ll then also be legal to carry a weapon in public.

  6. “With applying for a license in [dense cities] like Lynn, there’s more likelihood of gun negligence,”

    While applying, there’s negligence with the gun you don’t have yet?

    Among lawful gun owners? What’s the stat?

    “More”, per capita? or per square mile?

    • Important TTAG comment machinery safety tip: markup in yr comment will get you a captcha. Pls read the quote in above comment in italics.

    • That’s like insurance companies raising rate when you move to a more rural area, citing that the accident rate is higher because there are less people, rate per capita BS…

  7. Density, there seems to be arguing that we should ban cities.

    That seems a bit harsh. Common sense regulation should be sufficient. (To get rid of them on the sly, just like with guns.)

    • Sounds like a great idea. If you vote dumbocrat you should have 3 letters of character.
      1 for intelligence, 1 for civics and 1 for constitutional knowledge.

    • The people in Mass have it easy– in Delaware you need 5, and they gotta be from people that live in the same county you do.

      • And you have to pay a few hundred to advertise in the newspaper that you’re applying for a licence. No shit really.

  8. What this article demonstrates more than anything else is the astounding difference between states. To me here in MS, places like MASS, NY, NJ, CA, WA, etc. are like different planets. I’ll never understand how the EBE’s in those States allowed themselves to be subjected to such despotic governments.

  9. As someone who lives not far from Lynn (“Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin, you never come out, the way you went in”) it’s hysterical to think that approving who owns a gun there actually has an effect on…who owns a gun.

    The upshot is that as far as police dept’s in MA go, Lynn PD actually are pretty good about rubber stamping applications. They get that if you’re honest enough to ask, you’re not the problem.

  10. Don’t ever let the MA gun control scheme ever escape beyond the borders of Massachusetts. There is so much wrong here I don’t know where to begin. The biggest problem is that the kind of license one receives is entirely dependent on the physical address where they live. There is a case currently on the scotus docket to deal with this, and I’m hoping that they take it up but the person “Jamie Rivera” in the article doesn’t realize what the physical home address really means. A restricted license against concealed carry in that town translates to the entire state. I happen to live in a ‘green’ town, one that gives concealed carry. That means I can concealed carry in Jamies city while visiting while Jamie can never concealed carry in his home town nor can Jamie concealed carry if he visited me in my town. But it keeps going from there. If Jamie travelled out of state to another state that honored his MA LTC he cannot legally conceal carry in that state but I can. The only single difference between the 2 of us is not training or ability or character references. It’s a home address.

    The other problem with the MA scheme is the entire ‘chief’s’ discretion where the local police chief can pull licenses for what can be considered not even a criminal action. That’s right no laws need to be broken, the simple act of refusing to testify in a criminal court can cause one to lose their LTC even if they are simply a witness to a crime. It’s happened and the MA supreme court allowed a chief to yank an LTC because someone didn’t want to testify as a witness.

    • “If Jamie traveled out of state to another state that honored his MA LTC he cannot legally conceal carry in that state but I can.”

      This part isn’t true. Other states don’t give a damn what MA gives you for a gun license. Get a UT non resident and go from there. MA doesn’t recognize other states carry licenses, so most other states don’t recognize MA ones.

  11. Someday it’s going to blow and alot of these politicians and oath breaking cops are not going home at the end of the day.they think only Patriots are going to be killed

  12. Please advise me what other constitutionally mandated right do we have to take a class, which we pay for, have a background investigation up to and including finger prints, pay several fees for all of the above and then on a whim from some moron like Lizzie Warren we may be issued a “permit” to to exercise that right.
    The 10th amendment does NOT apply to the 2nd Amendment and all of the Massholes can kiss my ass.

  13. Actually, I was born in Lynn Mass. half my family still lives there or in the area, swampscott, revere beach, & so on… life was good back then,,, I had three relatives who were on the Lynn police dept,,, gotta say I’m disappointed in what has happened to that state.
    Seems like every politician who comes from that state AFTER JFK has been a total loser (E. Warren. M. Romney) & so on. Too bad so sad…

  14. I escaped the liberal lunacy and tyranny 30 years ago. What pushed me over the edge was having a firearms permit DENIED in front of me after paying $120 to the in-take sergeant. The police sergeant laughed as he did it. When I asked, I guess rather naively at the time, AREN’T YOU SUPPOSED TO CONDUCT A BACKGROUND CHECK? I was threatened with arrest. ARREST! I had done nothing wrong except apply for a permit. Leftists despise the police, unless the control them. In Massachusetts the police are all in for people control. I rarely visit.

  15. SOOO! have these dunces in charge readies themselves for another American Revolution or have they forgotten the name of the state in which they reside? How about a march on Mass. by freedom loving Americans from other states/ Or would they try to stop us at the state line?

  16. Here’s the thing (well, not THE thing, but a thing) that really nags me about these requirements to get other people to vouch for moral character:

    Suppose I sign the little affidavit that my neighbor is of good moral standing. He gets a carry permit. Some years later, he has a stroke, goes off the rails and shoots up a shopping mall.

    It seems to me that an aggressive and ambitious DA could hold me criminally liable as an accomplice for have signed the affidavit that made it possible for him to get his permit. Or a slick lawyer could name me as a co-defendant in a civil lawsuit and probably make a good argument of it to a jaded jury.

    Stranger things have happened…

    • Many states have the affidavit rule. It’s another roadblock to navigate. I don’t know 5 people in my area well enough to ask them because the form does insinuate liability.
      A ccw should be a personal matter not a public discussion.

  17. I live in Mass got my LTC in a different town thank god. Go ahead and look up the crime stats for Lynn….the city is a hell hole and here are the powers that be requiring law abiding citizens who are trying to protect themselves the right to do so making them jump through hoops to obtain an LTC. I’m outta this state the first chance I get.

  18. Massholes are attempting to destroy NH and they are the worst drivers in the country. To think this was a focal point of the American Revolution

  19. What else would you expect from a state that puts a muslime in a Govt position……Apparently they have already forgotten 9-11.

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