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Ready on the Right--Ready on the Left--Ready on the firing line

And my all-time \"favorite\" from the City of Boston (aka: Meningrad): All applicants must pass a range test at the BPD Moon Island pistol range as a pre-requisite to obtaining an LTC (A or B).

Yes, you have to demonstrate to the powers that be that your are proficient with a firearm your are not legally allowed to touch in the first place.

\"Commons sense\" strikes again.

And, oh yeah, it's an outdoor range, effectively closing down the licensing process from November through most of March
Bruce | 02.01.05 - 12:51 pm | #

I held a Mass. CCW before the draconian rules were put into place. Luckily my work took me out of that snakepit and now I hold a CCW in Maine.

I no longer compete in Mass. as I was told that I could compete there daily but I could not stay overnight, either with friends or a motel w/o breaking the Mass. laws. GOAL has told me that is not the case but rather than find out the hard way I no longer shoot in Mass. even on a daily basis.

You are correct in that the Mass. laws are ludicrous and are probably the worst of any state.
Anonymous | 02.01.05 - 12:52 pm | #

Sweet merciful crap. That's a lot of hoops to jump through just to be able to legally own a gun. The process is similar to the acquiring a CHL in Texas, except for the letters and such. There's classroom, firearms proficiency (shooting) test, and a written test. Fingerprints, passport photo, etc., but that's for CHL - your \"holy grail.\" I'm impressed that you stuck with it. The fact that people are willing to do what it takes in spite of their government is heartening.
JR | 02.01.05 - 12:52 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ MA sucks. It's even worse to get a non resident permit plus you have to renew it every year.......and submit a new set of finger prints, just in case they change, I guess. It takes so long to process that you have to start renewing at 9 mos into your license.

It's offensive. I plan to complain to the US AG about these outrageous hoops that are only designed to thwart our Second Amendment rights.
H
Herman | 02.22.05 - 10:26 am | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ It's pretty onerous here in NY State - westchester county, to be exact. Very similar process - fingerprinting, photo, letters attesting to my good character, etc.
Amazing that right across a border is a friendly place called \"Vermont\" where I don't need any permit to own or carry.
vudufixit | 02.25.05 - 7:46 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ Yeesh. Those laws absolutely suck. Thank God for the gun loving State of Texas!
Steve | 05.12.05 - 8:29 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ \"vudufixit\" is right, i live in that \"friendly state next door\" vermont, we've gotten along just fine for 100 years now without all the paperwork y'all describe. i have been through the mass. non resident ltc process, that goes through the mass. state police and is handled by them with much less nonsense, i was issued a \"class A\" \"all lawful purposes\" as an armoured truck guard with minimum hassle. even after retiring when i inquired about renewing my ltc i was told by msp that it would still be renewed as class A and \"all lawful purposes\" just as before. in spite of that i feel absolutely no temptation to move down to massachusetts.
\"gunner\" | 07.10.05 - 3:19 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ Hello, I lived in North Andover, MA and had to go through all that and get the dreaded doctors note. And one of my three other letters of recomendation was from a Sgt in Andover, MA. My father is a lieutenant in the Andover Fire dept. It still took over a year to get and I had to install an alarm system and car stereo in the authorizing officers personal vehicle before he would have the chief read and approve my application. ( I was an installer at the time). A year later I became an NRA instuctor and follow gun issues very close. I since have moved to VA where it's nice to have my rights back where they should be, with me. I'll never live in a state that openly trashes my Natural rights again.
Michael O'Neill | 07.03.06 - 1:06 am | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ I was looking into getting a LTC here in Taxachusetts but I have decided instead to move. Vermont is sounding better all the time. In the mean time I am exercising my right (not yet limited by governmental encumbrance) to own and shoot pellet guns.

Here’s to The Second Amendment, and boo-hiss to the Commonwealth for unconstitutionally limiting it through excessive beaurocracy. We all know how well prohibition works…
PelletsAPlenty | 07.23.06 - 7:46 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ You have now created a comprehensive and complete paper trail for any jurisdiction to track you down and take your guns and kill you.

I will not register I will not violate my own 2nd amendment right.

A right doesn't require me to jump through a single hoop for some government bureaucracy. The moment the government can require me to meet arbitrary conditions, it ceases to be a right.
Will Coffman | 09.12.06 - 4:56 am | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ Hi everyone. I'm new to shooting sports and I've signed up for a NRA basic pistol class as well as a personal protection course and will apply for a LTC-A. Realistically I plan to shoot at the range and participate in regional practical shooting sports (a la IDPA and GSSF) but I also want to carry for for personal protection. My wife and I live in Boston and after a couple of sticky situations in our neighborhood this year we are more aware of our vulnerability (especially given the startlingly high rate of violent crime in our fair city)

Now for the questions:

Did you obtain your LTC-A in Boston or know anyone who has who would be willing to advise me on the most prudent way to phrase my reason for requesting an A-Type license? I understand that Boston is classified as a \"Difficult/Impossible\" place to obtain a type A. ( I
satisfy all the requirements for a \"suitable\" person for a license. No record, over 21, pretty much average, no medical condition, citizen).

For instance, if I am rejected for an LTC-A will they issue me an LTC-B or just reject me straight away? Then, given that Boston is so troublesome about this, would it be better for me to apply for a LTC-B and just bite the \"no large cap\" handgun bullet (ie. I'd rather be able to own a gun and train with it holding a B-license than try for the A and get rejected).

Thanks for the advice!
Ed | 09.14.06 - 3:04 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ I can appreciate your distress at this state - and remind you that T Kennedy is running for reelection again - in spite of the fiasco with the big dig.

Yet I know of approximately 4 close neighbors of mine who have permits, so it is possible. I am in Andover, separate town from North Andover, but our chief wants letters from a doctor, too.
Deb | 09.22.06 - 6:09 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ Maybe 10 years ago I got a non-resident unlimited carry permit. I just told'em I was going to be handling some cash while doing a 9 month gig up there, sent a copy of my FL permit and the MA one arrived a month or so later.

But I was dealing with a state agency, not one of the local police chiefs.
Purple Avenger | Homepage | 10.14.06 - 11:06 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ I live in Illinois and am a gun owner. Like you I was nieve about guns until I decided to start shooting and to know more about guns.

Being black, I saw just how few blacks there were that were into shooting. Hearing people like Jessie Jackson and the NAACP I was shocked at their stance, espeically when I know that blacks were denied that right in the past like voting.

I also did research on black gun ownership and saw that many blacks did carry for Self-Protection against the KKK and there were groups that protected the non-violent protesters against violence. It was interesting that the civil rights movement would have been wiped out if it wasn't for gun wielding black people. But it shocks me that the majority of black leaders have forgotten this and are for gun control.

Because of this denial of this history, I have become a certifiable black gun nut myself. I have a glock 34, an AR15 carbine, and a Remington 700 sniper rifle. For me, I am interested in target shooting, and customizing my weapons. Both are alot of fun.

So I understand what you mean.
rwbazillion | Homepage | 11.06.06 - 2:37 am | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ Welcome to NH! I lived in Mass for over 20 years and my Grandfather held a \"lawful purposes\" permit. I took one look at the paperwork and never bothered. I had my first firearm about two days after moving to NH and filed for my CCW permit in NH. It was a BREEZE. One page form at the lcoal police station, they ran my criminal record and 2 weeks & $10 later I had a ccw. When I moved to a different town, I showed the new chief my permit and asked him what I need to do to get one on there. He looked at it and said \"naw, that one's fine\" How I love small town living!
Mike Hoiriis | 01.27.07 - 9:41 am | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ this is appalling,and totally unacceptable
SSG Carter R. King | 01.28.07 - 9:06 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ Goodness! That really IS a lot of gun control! But, it's for the CHILDREN, right? Surely, now that these draconian rules have had 9 YEARS to take effect, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts must by now be a gun-crime free Utopia! Certainly, other gun-ban organization nationwide will point the the Bay State's successful experiment, and use it as a powerful argument for their view. I'll make sure it gets brought to their attention, on my next trip to our state's Capitol...
chunkstyle | 03.07.07 - 2:05 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ I recently became gun owner/enthusiast in Indiana, but I am moving to New York... one look at their gun laws makes me not wana move... big question is, how is one supposed to register a handgun he owns(once he obtains a license) if one is not supposed even to have one before... wouldn't that mean admitting to breaking the law prior to the licensing?
russianneckred | 07.24.07 - 10:12 am | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ Sounds like the British legacy to me, we have the same crap here in the UK, Doctors and photos included. What the hell i still have my guns.
Enfield no4 in 7.62 nato
Parker Hale L81a1 also in 7.62 nato
Winchester mod 70 in .223 and a
Anschutz .22 for the indoor range.
It's a lot of trouble but we must make the effort. Hoping to take mine to AZ when i retire..
Dave Butler | 12.19.07 - 3:23 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ Yeah, it's crucially important to have letters of recommendation for the chief, to prove you're a good citizen. When I got my first Mass license in the early '90s, I got one of my required written recommendations from my next-door neighbor, who was a minister with congregations in two towns and a former local selectman. He didn't know me very well, given that I wasn't a member of his church and our houses were a quarter mile apart, but he wrote me a nice recommendation. Good thing I wasted no time applying for the gun permit, because it turns out I didn't know him very well, either. About a year later, he was convicted of rape of a minor, an au pair he had \"rescued\" from poverty from an Asian country, and apparently abused several times a week for most of a year. But hey, a recommendation is a recommendation, and I'm sure the subjects in Massachusetts were that much safer because I had gotten one.
Mass. Expatriate | 04.11.09 - 6:46 am | #

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