Justin,
Unfortunately you are correct, the wizards in MA no longer like the short ALL LAWFUL PURPOSES response even though its the best answer. What I tell my students is to mention your primary reason for the LTC first in your answer. I'd start by saying you've always been interested in exercising your 2nd amendment right and.....if you are primarily concerned with having a weapon for self/family safety/protection in the home and carrying-on-your-person then that should be first in your answer followed by the secondary reasons like all sporting purposes, and collection, etc. Obviously you can switch around the order as it applies to your situation. If you mention a secondary reason first then there's always the chance they will "forget" your primary reason (if its a request for self protection) and give you a restricted license "for sporting purposes only" and those are pretty useless in my view. Are you in a CCW unfriendly town? Whatever the case, just relax and dont be nervous, they just want to get a sense of whether you are a normal, law abiding citizen and not a nut. If you have anymore questions/concerns just ask. Sniper977 - NRA C'rt Instructor