Letter from S&W Academy

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There's an interesting course called Dynamic Live Fire Judgement Training being offered at the Smith & Wesson Academy this May.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/...langId=-1&parent_category_rn=21808&training=Y

I haven't made up my mind yet, but I am definitely thinking of going to it.

I wrote a letter to the Academy just before Christmas. I summarized my situation as a NY resident, long-time pistol license holder, and possesing both NH and CT NR LTC, but no MA LTC, and inquired about the legality of bringing my gun over to Springfield for training.

I just got the following letter back:

John

You didn't mention if you were a private citizen or in Law Enforcement.

If you attend a training program here at the Smith & Wesson Academy you can travel with your handgun as long as you have a firearms license in your state. You will receive a letter from us stating that you are attending a training program which is why you are transporting a handgun in Mass.

While you are atteding training you can leave your handgun in our arms room overnight.

If you prefer not to transport your handgun a Smith & Wesson would be available for your use in class.

Regards
John
 
Sorry, NOT LEGAL!

Not unless the course includes a "competition".

This was researched at length a year or so ago. Info posted here, do a search in the Training forum or the Gun Laws forum here. Check for posts from myself and Jim Conway about this issue.

You can use guns provided by S&W, but you can not bring handguns "in state" except to attend a gun show/exhibition or for a competition. There are NO other exemptions for non-LE!
 
LenS said:
Sorry, NOT LEGAL!

Not unless the course includes a "competition".

This was researched at length a year or so ago. Info posted here, do a search in the Training forum or the Gun Laws forum here. Check for posts from myself and Jim Conway about this issue.

I have seen the thread you mentioned. It was very interesting. Part of the reason I posted the whole S&W letter was because the information it contained didn't seem to jive with that thread.

LenS said:
You can use guns provided by S&W, but you can not bring handguns "in state" except to attend a gun show/exhibition or for a competition. There are NO other exemptions for non-LE!

I still find the whole issue very confusing, and have not decided what I am going to do about the course.

It occurs to me that if someone WERE travelling with their letter in his possesion and got stopped and arrested ANYWAY, they would have a HUGE civil suit liability on their hands. I wonder why they would risk that? Can S&W corporation be making THAT much money off the Academy that they would prefer to run that risk rather than just close it - or move it to gun friendly NH?

It's been said that the only reason courts exist is because two lawyers can't agree on what the law means. It looks like S&W's lawyers are pretty sure that what they are doing is legal.

I may just let them loan me a revolver, and avoid all the possible hassle.
(tho the idea of living the rest of my life in luxury in HI on the proceeds of my civil suit against S&W is tempting . . . No. Best to put that temptation behind me.)

Thanks for your comments.

Regards
John
 
While my response is not about the transport of your gun, I wanted to let you know that I have taken the class and it is excellent! Well worth the money and time
 
Davidk said:
While my response is not about the transport of your gun, I wanted to let you know that I have taken the class and it is excellent! Well worth the money and time

Thanks, David.

I think that after you hit a certain level of square-range training, it's time to move on to Force-on-Force or other confrontational training, or you're just kidding yourself about being ready for trouble.

I'm probably overdue for that sort of thing.

Regards
John
 
John, why don't you send them another letter explaining what you think the law explains and ask them what legal opinion they have that says their letter is OK. Maybe they have an opinion from the AG (ok I just stopped laughing and pulled myself off the floor) or other state official stating that their letter is enough. It'll be interesting to see what their response is.
Jon
 
And you can tell S&W that I checked out my answer with Chief Ron Glidden (Chairman of the Gun Control Advisory Board).

Also a quick read of MGLs gives the exceptions to being licensed and what I stated are the ONLY exceptions (except LEO) listed in the law.

It is dumb as it goes, but at least they don't define "competition"! We held an informal round robin shoot at steel targets (hostage setup) in one of classes so that the VT, CT, ME folks without LTCs were "legal" in MA with their handguns.

This can easily be dealt with, just not by ignorance of the law.
 
Non-Resident

There is also the requirement that the non-resident hold a firearms license from a state, district or territory which prohibits the issuance of such licenses to drug users and felons.
 
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