Explain MA gun law to me?

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telomerase

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Sorry I'm not including a large retainer with this legal question, it deserves one.

Suppose I were thinking of moving to Boston... do I have to give up the 2nd Amendment? I checked NRA etc.... either I don't understand what I see, or MA is part of the UK.

1. No handguns unless you apply for a permit and they agree that you have a "specific reason to fear bodily harm"? (I presume "I live in Boston" doesn't count, but I don't see why).
2. No freakin' pepper spray without permit?
3. Many rifles banned, no mags over ten rounds.
I quit before I looked up the sword regs, I figure they are bad too.

So what do you tell someone about their home and self-defense options in Boston? Throw away all their pistols and get one of the legal rifles with a ten round mag? Build a very large microwave array? Go back to the sword (or is that illegal)?
 
You may want to 'lurk' a bit at northeastshooters.com. But it does look like you've summed it up well. Still, MA IS a bit better than Illinois for gun owners.
 
If you want to live in the Northeast, I'd aim for VT, NH, or Maine, in that order...

MA is bad, Boston is even more restrictive in its rules than the state's laws are.
 
If you want to live in the Northeast, I'd aim for VT, NH, or Maine, in that order...
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I'm actually probably going to NH... just looking at Boston. NH recently improved its laws, they are practically as good as VT... and while NH has the lowest taxes in the US, VT has the highest!

You may want to 'lurk' a bit at northeastshooters.com
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Thanks.
 
Yeah, VT taxes are killers, and NH isn't too bad, except on the permit to conceal carry thing.

I'm headed for the Alaskan bush in the future...screw tax loving governments!
 
Yeah, NH is shall issue, though certain dems in the govt. there have tried to change it to may issue and have failed so far. I think if they're legal in MA you could, but I imagine all registration/license laws would apply...which would be a big pain.

Do keep in mind all of northern New England is succombing to incoming waves of MA, NY, and NJ escapees, among others, and they tend to bring their socialist ideas with them. Be aware of the dangers to liberty in all of these states. It's how VT has become so taxed and regulated, these socialists and environmentalists have moved in over the past 30-40 years, and now are taxing real Vermonters out of their own state.
 
Do keep in mind all of northern New England is succumbing to incoming waves of MA, NY, and NJ escapees, among others, and they tend to bring their socialist ideas with them. Be aware of the dangers to liberty in all of these states. It's how VT has become so taxed and regulated,
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Right, VT is the control group for the Free State Project. Unfortunately they started in VT back in the 1970s, FSP only a couple years ago.

NH is only full of Dems because of the antiwar feeling. Fortunately they are not all real Dems... some of them are FSP who don't care what the party label is.
 
NH's CC permit has wide reciprocity, too. Much better recognition than Maine's.
 
Do not confuse Boston with the rest of the state. If you have to move to MA, move to a town with an established reputation of easily issuing Class A Licenses To Carry (LTC) like Beverly (my previous home of six years). An LTC issued by any town or city in MA is good in Boston, so screw their "special" rules. Pre-ban hi-cap mags are perfectly legal to use and carry.

You need, at a minimum, a FID card to legally possess firearms in your home. There is a grace period for new residents (90 or 180 days, hopefully cbsbyte will be here soon to clarify), then you're all set. For carry purposes, you need to also apply for your LTC.

Also, any weapons you own will be "grandfathered" in, so if you want a pistol that isn't on "the list" or a rifle with "assault" features, now is the time to buy them.
 
You need, at a minimum, a FID card to legally possess firearms in your home. There is a grace period for new residents (90 or 180 days, hopefully cbsbyte will be here soon to clarify), then you're all set. For carry purposes, you need to also apply for your LTC.

Also, any weapons you own will be "grandfathered" in, so if you want a pistol that isn't on "the list" or a rifle with "assault" features, now is the time to buy them.
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Thanks for the info... I presume the criminals have been informed of the grace periods and are forbidden to attack until after they expire? :confused:
 
You can bring your guns with you.

Scenario 1: You own a non large capacity long gun. When you move you can get an FID card. Those are shall issue. As long as you meet the legal requirements you are all set. FID costs $100.

Scenario 2: You own any handgun or any large capacity long gun. You must apply for a Class A or Class B license to carry. Those are may issue and cost $100. If you are denied (they can be denied for ANY reason), after the grace period from the date you moved, you are in violation of the law. In order to move into MA with any handgun not on the approved roster you must have lived somewhere else where it was legal for a period of time.

These links will tell you whatever you need to know about the people's republic of Massachusetts.

http://www.goal.org/misc/faq/overview.html

http://www.packing.org/state/massachusetts/

Good luck!
 
Right, VT is the control group for the Free State Project. Unfortunately they started in VT back in the 1970s, FSP only a couple years ago.
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Actually, it's NH that was chosen by the FSP.

I would choose NH over VT. NH's gun laws aren't very onerous; shall issue, open carry without permit, no waiting period or handgun registration, no fingerprints or training required for CCW, etc. Plus the lower taxes and somewhat fewer liberals make up for the inconvenience of an easy-to-get CCW permit.

That said, it is changing up here. The Democratic governor vetoed a nice Castle Doctrine bill in 2005. Since 2006, when the dems took control of state congress, they've tried to tamper with CCW permits, but for now were unsuccessful due to a huge turnout of gun owners at the hearings.

Every year, more and more libs creep up here from the flatlands and want to tinker with our laws.
 
No, the trick is where to hide for 180 days while trying to get the FID card. In the meantime apparently one must pressure flake some flint for home defense.
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It's a grace period, not a waiting period. You can have your weapons in your home during that time.
 
"Suppose I were thinking of moving to Boston..."

Mistake number one. Do you mean Boston proper or Boston area?

" do I have to give up the 2nd Amendment? I checked NRA etc.... either I don't understand what I see, or MA is part of the UK."

Depends on which town you live as it's up to the issuing authority in each town. As a general rule, the closer you get to Boston the harder it is to get a CCW.

All info on MA gun laws found here:

www.goal.org

Contrary to popular belief, MA is not the worst state for gun owners, but it has some very odd gun laws, and it's very much town to town. Move to HH and commute to Boston if your gun rights are essential to you or find a town outside of Boston known to issue CCW and move there.
 
You can have Hi-cap magazines as long as they were in the state before the ban.

I don't think anyone really cares if you have swords or not.

Class A(CCW) permits are pretty easy to get in my town.

AR-15's are legal.
 
One clarification is that a basic License To Carry does not allow you to CCW. Only a LTC A with no restrictions allows one to CCW in this state. It depends on the city Police Chief, some are liberal about giving out unrestricted LTC As, others won't do it unless you jump through rings of fires, and others won't do it unless you are politically connected in the town. It all depends on what town you live in, eastern Mass LEOs, tend to be more restrictive than the central and western parts of the state. A good idea is not matter what town you move to, always apply for a LTC A, why bother with a LTC B, or FID when they all cost the same. Also you will have to take a state approved firearm safety course before you can apply for a LTC at the local police station. Many towns offer these courses a few times a year. GOAL also offers approved courses.


you can have Hi-cap magazines as long as they were in the state before the ban.
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Actually you can own any pre-ban magazine even if it was not in the state before the ban.
 
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