I've done the research in the past. I'm going to have to brush up on it again. I believe Massachusetts has some of the toughest (if not THE toughest) gun laws in the country. Anyway, I'm going to worry about class A LTC vs class B and letters of recommendation and all that crap later...

For now, I need to look into completing the required safety course. All that's required in that department is to take an NRA certified safety course and to present proof of taking/passing the course on your application. Some friends, though, recommend I take a course that's both NRA AND state police sanctioned. Some even recommend I do all this AND take a more in depth/longer course (one that would involve multiple visits, and at a gun range) just so it looks all that much better on the application.

Gun gurus, what are your thoughts?

Mike,
First of all, it's going to vary by town. I don't know yet whether the supreme courts decision is going to have an affect. You are licencsed through the town you are living in.
Example: I think it's quincy, but the chief of police is not a fan people having guns in his town, so the have restrictions, 200(don't know if it's more or less but you get the point) licences are issued for the town, so the only way to get one is wait until someone dies or gives up their license. Whereas a towns like lakville, carver, middleboro, you walk in, hand them the certification, wait until the background check is done an bang you have it. Last I talked to you, you said you were thinking of moving to Woburn. Woburn cops can be extremely difficult. Your best bet is to get your licencse in the town you live in and then transfer it when you move.

Now, The NRA is a MUST obviously, I would personally go to a range more than once, I don't know if I would do the SP sanctioned one but it might do you good. I mean the NRA course is an 8 hour 1 day thing, personally I don't think that's enough time to teach someone responsibilty with a gun, but that's just me.
I could go on for hours, but I do give you props for making this decision, and asking questions, THAT does show some resposibility. Check out the American Firearms School in North Attleboro, the instructor there is great, pulls no punches in his class and cuts through the bullshit.
Give me a shout anytime if you want to talk more about this.

Mike, i'll give you the guy's name in rockland that does the 8 hour nra safety course. and Rob is right about it varying from town to town on toughness to get it. i know weymouth is probably the toughest in mass. it's up to the police chief to issue the license. i heard no one has a class A in weymouth. the police chief (King) refuses to give them out so he demotes you to a class b. i think rockland isn't bad though. if you talk to this guy i know, he'll be able to tell you more. i'll message you with his info once i go through my shit and find it.

Hey Mess. The thing is... I think the supreme courts decision might change all that. We'll have to wait and see. I'm still up in the air about that decision... What a blasphemous NRA member I am!

Yupyup! This is kind of why I want to get going on all this. I'm looking to move soon too, so I wanted to go for this shit sooner rather than later since I hear Rockland's chief isn't too bad about granting licenses. I don't know where I'll be moving to, but it's probably not going to be any better than where I am now.

Rob: Do you know how long that class at the American Firearms School lasts? Is it a more than 1 day thing at a range? I've been shooting a few times at a range before and have unofficially been taught some safety with firearms by friends, but for my application I just want it to look the best it can so I don't take any chances. Plus, I'm obviously interested in learning as much as I can and remaining safe, so doing something more in-depth than an 8 hour classroom safety course is appealing to me. It's pretty much win-win to go the extra mile in this case, for myself and the LTC application.

guns are the greatest catalyst for darwinism.

Plus they're fun to shoot pieces of paper with circles on them with.

Mike: It is a 1 day course, 8 hours. I recommend AFS because out of all the instructors I (and I say "I") have known, he gets right to the point and tells you like it is. They have advanced classes on all kinds of things. Best bet is to call around to different schools/gun ranges and ask tons of questions.
A friend of mine just got his class a, he went to the course, the instructor looked around asked a couple of questions, said OK your ready, brought them to the range, let them shoot for a half an hour and said you pass?!?!?! I said dude are you fucking kidding me? he said no.
Later on in the week he came over to hang out and I asked him to load a gun, this particular gun was a Glock, thanks to my friend being a Federal Police Officer, and a Middlesex County Deputy Sheriff who was over at the time(he let him try out the Glock), and my other buddy just looked baffled. He couldn't figure out how to load the gun. I said bro, you have no business owning gun, you need to go back to school and learn some basics. The point: he went to a class that didn't teach him shit, so now it's basically up to us to each him all the stuff he should have learned in class!
Just be cautious some schools are in it for the wrong reason(money) and some are in it for the right. Make calls ask tons of questions, you'll be able to cull the herd in no time.
I'll help in any way possible.

I would. The NRA has convinced too many people they're a special interest lobby.

All I did was take a state police test, file and pay, then wait. Some places it as easy as pie. Other places they are real dicks. I'd go down to your local station and see what they want of you and then do it.


One thing they told me is do not waste your time going for anything but your class A large capacity all lawful purposes. They said it is much eisier to get that than any other form which made no sense to me. I went for it, and 6 months later was on a killer gun buying spree.


good luck and lets go shooting sometime!

oh and in dartmouth all I had to do was take a written test after a 3 hour class with no range or firearms involved haha

Now that all this recording shit has died down, I've finally gotten around to looking into this again. I just checked out AFS online a little. I'm going to give them a call tomorrow.

Rob, do you think it'd be worth going to my local police station first and asking them what they think? Or do you think it'd be best to take the course first and learn a bit (concerning handgun laws/licenses mostly). I don't want to show up at the police station and look like an out of control newbie demanding a handgun haha.

i want one too.. im sick of my bb guns

Let's take the class. We can be gun buddies.

absolutely.. find out the info and then let me know when where and how much.

I got a sweat 22 with my new identity!

Hilarious. No, not funny anymore.

A sweaty 22?

I think that Mass. gun laws are ridiculously un-Constitutional. Especially for having one of the highest murder rates in the country. If everyone carried guns, crime would go away.

but aaron shooting self in foot rates would go sky high. let's look at countries were everyone carries a gun, iraq, afghanistan, crimes with guns there must be zero cause everyone carries a gun. unlike countries such as england were guns are illegal so crime rates must be sky high.
er.. wait a second.

Ya can't fight that argument. You lose instantly. Fuckin' hippy.

Did I mention that I win?

Y a it's true....look at the statistics.

did I mentions humans are stupid and that guns or no guns there will be crimes?
gun laws in japan are ridiculous so there are really no gun crimes, but 70 x as many sword crimes.

yeah.. iraq and afghanistan where everyone has a gun and 300% of people are murdered each year by guns. 300%. I posted those statistics on line so they are now 100% true.

Statistically the US has on of the lowest gun violence rates in the world, so put that in your pipe and smoke it, hippy.

Friggin' anti-gunners should all go back to Mass. and NYC. Then they can all live in their high taxed pussy world ruled by Hillary Clinton.

in america the streets are paved with apple pies and we shit gold. also posted online so it's true.

what does hilary have to do with mass? I think you meant kenedy.

you also live in the democratic republic of maine. a state that was part of mass and it seems mostly like it was created just to see what thy could get away with blowing an 8% tax on. LAPTOPS FOR ALL KIDS!

Trust me...Maine sucks. If this state voted Republican just ONCE, we wouldn't be the poorest state in the union for ONCE. These fuckin' blue bellies up here should all take a long walk off a short pier.

um... if I remember correctly, one of the senators was/is a republican. olympia snow?
Which shows how stupid maine is. the one position you want a democrat in so that they get you more pork back from washington.

HAHAHA! that rules! I want sword crimes!

LOL WUT

you seem to not realize that there are urban or even sub-urban areas where people interact daily and don't go weeks without seeing their next door neighbor.

I have a permit to carry concealed. All I did was go to my local police station and fill out an application. 2-3 weeks later, voila! I don't carry very often, though -- I really don't have much need to, but it's great to know I can legally carry in the great state of NH.

But you live in NH right? In MA you have to take an NRA certified class, get some letters of recommendation and suck off the police chief's dick, and MAYBE he'll grant you your license.

Mike,
I really wouldn't bother going to the police station first. 9 times out of 10 they'll try to make some excuse in advance, why you should or blah blah blah shouldn't. As a whole, cops (and I ride and am friends with quite few here in the bogs and most of the surrounding towns) they truly don't like the idea of average citizens owning guns. I suggest to just go and take the course, get that done and then go to the police station, fill out the paperwork and see what happens. After the paperwork is done they might call you for an interview, some towns do (brockton being one of them). What town do you live in? Did you move up north yet? Like I said before some towns are stricter with their gun laws.

Awesome. Thanks Rob. I'll call AFS today and schedule my class.

And I live in Rockland. From what I've heard, it's not too too bad. I guess we will see though. haha.

Who said I didn't suck off the police chief?

Yeah, I recall when I lived in RI, you had to take a special handgun test (not for long guns) and have little blue card certifying you just to OWN a handgun. I don't think concealed carry in RI is even possible unless you make a special case..and start blowing police chiefs. In NH you need nothing to buy a handgun, just a permit to carry one.

Are you looking to carry, or just for home protection? If it's for home protection, just get a 12 gauge pump.

You need at least a class B LTC to own a handgun I believe, but there's all sorts of restrictions that a class B has that A does not. Even though I don't care about carrying a CONCEALED firearm, I'll be going for the class A LTC most likely.

Damn, you guys clearly have better shows / music scene down there, but what a fucking pain in the ass to live in that state.

right?
NH VT and ME gun laws are great.
Shit, theres not even a waiting period for a handgun in NH, as long as you have your permit.

Here its quite easy, as far as compared to Mass, but its still 70 bucks, and you have to take a class. Its like 1 hour or something lame.
But 70 bucks every 5 years I think, whereas NH was 12 bucks every 4 years. I think. Maybe even longer.

MSD, you seem to know what you need to do to carry, but have you decided WHAT youre going to carry yet?

Thats a convo I could help in. Lemme kno.

A personal fave! Expensive but awesome gun.

Side Note: This one gives me a woody!


Been target shooting for years, had I gone into the military I would've been a sniper.

Another good choice, but then again it all depends on how much you are looking to spend.

I have no idea yet. Teach me, master.

The town north of Atlanta had little prominence until it passed a gun ordinance in 1982 that required all heads of a household to own a firearm and ammunition.

Kennesaw's law was a response to Morton Grove, Illinois, which had passed a gun ban earlier that year as a step to reduce crime.

"When the law was passed in 1982 there was a substantial drop in crime ... and we have maintained a really low crime rate since then," said police Lt. Craig Graydon. "We are sure it is one of the lowest (crime) towns in the metro area.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17192576.htm

Just signed up for the course at AFS.

mike, any follow up to this? i've been thinking about taking a course for awhile now, was curious what you had to do.

it's just an 8 hour nra safety course.

How do you decide what's a good gun and what's a bad one? Like what do you judge it by?

if it looks like that, buy it.