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Moved to NH, but my MA LTC hasn't expired yet...is it still valid?

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Thedon88

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Moved to freedom at the end of August, and my MA LTC doesn't expire until the end of 2025.

I'm an official NH resident with a NH driver's license and plates. Does anyone know if my MA LTC is still valid...haven't been able to find a definitive answer and I don't want to call the MA state police and ask for obvious reasons. I'm still a member at a couple clubs in MA and would like the peace of mind to know if I can still bring my (MA compliant) guns and mags there and shoot.

My parents still live in MA as well, and I would like to carry there when visiting in order to defend them if necessary.
 
Lol, check your LTC in the MIRCS verification portal, I bet it is still valid. Even if you sent in the required-by-law ratting-on-yourself letters.

I have been of the opinion that your LTC is valid UNTIL IT EXPIRES, regardless of what the state "feels", EOPS does not actually expire these licenses even though they have the
ability to do so. There are also some issuing authorities that have told their carriers the same thing. (2nd and 3rd parties have told me their LO said it was fine)

Whatever POV you decide to go with, DO NOT THROW THAT LICENSE AWAY or grind it up. Even an expired LTC is a huge protectant from jail if you ever got caught south of the border with
something. (it reduces the punishment for base level unlawful posession from jayle down to a civil infrac + fine + maybe loss of gun lol)
 
Make your snail mail NR LTC application with $100 certified bank check and wait 6 months for your in-person Chelsea interview. What else would you expect from MA.
 
FisherTech said:
NO!!!!
Click to expand...

Factually untrue, nobody can actually show me in the law where it forces revocation or expiration of an active MA LTC merely for the sin of not being a resident anymore.

The law says you need to be a resident to be issued one (or business owner) but it is DEAD SILENT on this issue. Which is why EOPS doesn't expire licenses that are still active.
 
drgrant said:
Lol, check your LTC in the MIRCS verification portal, I bet it is still valid. Even if you sent in the required-by-law ratting-on-yourself letters.

I have been of the opinion that your LTC is valid UNTIL IT EXPIRES, regardless of what the state "feels", EOPS does not actually expire these licenses even though they have the
ability to do so. There are also some issuing authorities that have told their carriers the same thing. (2nd and 3rd parties have told me their LO said it was fine)

Whatever POV you decide to go with, DO NOT THROW THAT LICENSE AWAY or grind it up. Even an expired LTC is a huge protectant from jail if you ever got caught south of the border with
something. (it reduces the punishment for base level unlawful posession from jayle down to a civil infrac + fine + maybe loss of gun lol)
Click to expand...

Was I "required" to notify my issuing PD that I moved and mail in my LTC? Woops, must have missed that one.
 
“Any licensee shall notify, in writing, the licensing authority who issued said license, the chief of police into whose jurisdiction the licensee moves and the executive director of the criminal history systems board of any change of address. Such notification shall be made by certified mail within 30 days of its occurrence. Failure to so notify shall be cause for revocation or suspension of said license.”
Click to expand...
MGL Ch 140, s 131

I can assure you from first hand experience that your license remains valid. Just notify your licensing authority and the FRB. An LTC query in CJIS will show the updated NH address. It will remain valid until expiration. The MGLs make no mention of automatic expiration or revocation upon moving out of state. I know several people that have done this.
 
Thedon88 said:
Was I "required" to notify my issuing PD that I moved and mail in my LTC? Woops, must have missed that one.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are required to rat on yourself by mail to tell them that you moved, to your IA (the PD who issued you the license) and EOPS. The last few people I know that did this... still had active LTCs after doing so, for whatever that is worth. GOAL has a handy form letter somewhere on their website for this purpose, although anyone who can write a grocery list can probably
make on in 5 minutes regardless....
 
drgrant said:
Yes, you are required to rat on yourself by mail to tell them that you moved, to your IA (the PD who issued you the license) and EOPS. The last few people I know that did this... still had active LTCs after doing so, for whatever that is worth. GOAL has a handy form letter somewhere on their website for this purpose, although anyone who can write a grocery list can probably
make on in 5 minutes regardless....
Click to expand...
Lots of acronyms going off in this thread lol. Is the eops and the frb the same thing in this context?
 
Also if you were to have any interaction with a Massachusetts police officer, I would simply hand him your LTC and not say anything about the address unless he asks. If you start bringing up address changes and living in NH, the average cop in this state is going to become very confused and the interaction could turn into something bigger than it needs to be.

With that said, if he runs your LTC, the NH address will show up so hopefully there won’t be any issues beyond that.
 
WJ406 said:
MGL Ch 140, s 131

I can assure you from first hand experience that your license remains valid. Just notify your licensing authority and the FRB. An LTC query in CJIS will show the updated NH address. It will remain valid until expiration. The MGLs make no mention of automatic expiration or revocation upon moving out of state. I know several people that have done this.
Click to expand...

drgrant said:
Yes, also known as CJIS/FRB, etc.
Click to expand...
Awesome, thank you both. Will be doing the paperwork this week.
 
drgrant said:
Yes, you are required to rat on yourself by mail to tell them that you moved, to your IA (the PD who issued you the license) and EOPS. The last few people I know that did this... still had active LTCs after doing so, for whatever that is worth. GOAL has a handy form letter somewhere on their website for this purpose, although anyone who can write a grocery list can probably
make on in 5 minutes regardless....
Click to expand...
GOALs form letter link is broken. I just let my SIL know about this since he moved to CT and still has a MA license
 
FisherTech said:
NO!!!!
Click to expand...
DR Grant said it, but I'll say it again.

Please provide a cite to either MA law or a court decision. My bet is you can't because there isn't one.

And please spare "it only stands to reason", "I'd like to see you be the test case", "I know it to be the so", and all other content-free responses with no information other than proof by assertion.

If it is expired it would still be a defense against a criminal charge as it becomes a civil offense of carrying on an expired license (unless statutorially ineligible for an LTC, turned down for a renewal after the expiration or revoked/expired for any reason other than failure to file a change of address).
 
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You will hand the cop your NH license. Cop will jack you up. Have fun with that even if Mike is technically right, doesn’t sound like a fun time to me.
 
WJ406 said:
Also if you were to have any interaction with a Massachusetts police officer, I would simply hand him your LTC and not say anything about the address unless he asks. If you start bringing up address changes and living in NH, the average cop in this state is going to become very confused and the interaction could turn into something bigger than it needs to be.

With that said, if he runs your LTC, the NH address will show up so hopefully there won’t be any issues beyond that.
Click to expand...
There is no duty to inform in MA so don’t even bother unless they ask you to step out.
 
LittleCalm said:
You will hand the cop your NH license. Cop will jack you up. Have fun with that even if Mike is technically right, doesn’t sound like a fun time to me.
Click to expand...

Prove it. For the love of god, will one of you people provide proof of the problem? [rofl] No you can't, because it never happened.

BTW people have LTCs with an address that don't match their (current) DL all the time, in the system. MA Business owners who live in NH have the same "condition".

ETA: So you think a cop is going to arrest someone when they look up an LTC in CJISWEB and it comes back as active and valid? Really? [rofl]

Please tell the class how this would make any sense. Please.

Do you think the average police officer cares about EOPS adventurism and wishful thinking from a decade or more ago? (that they more or less had to give up on, without saying so) or do you think they they actually care about, well, running someones "papers" and seeing if the car, driver, and LTC (if necessary, which is likely rare that they even care to do that, but I'll play along) come back as valid? Especially if the computer shows their current DL address in it for their LTC. That cop on the side of the road is not going to give two f***s wether its a "resident" license or not. They're going to do what the computer basically leads them to do, which for most people consists of "sorry nothing interesting found, go back to writing your citation, warning, or whatever it is you stopped this person for".
 
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LittleCalm said:
You will hand the cop your NH license. Cop will jack you up. Have fun with that even if Mike is technically right, doesn’t sound like a fun time to me.
Click to expand...
There is no “technically right” in this case. He has a lawfully issued LTC and complied with the change of address requirements. You are not violating the law.

The “resident LTC” actually has two provisions that allow non-residents to obtain one:
1. A police officer employed by the licensing authority (ex. Lowell cop who lives in Pelham, NH. He will be issued a resident LTC by applying with Lowell PD as the licensing authority)
2. A person having a place of business within the jurisdiction of the licensing authority

In both of these instances, the individual would present a MA resident LTC along with an out of state driver’s license and be completely legal.

As someone stated previously, cite one example of someone being charged in a situation like this. You cannot because there is no violation of the law to charge someone with. People are making this way more complicated than it needs to be.
 
drgrant said:
Yes, you are required to rat on yourself by mail to tell them that you moved, to your IA (the PD who issued you the license) and EOPS. The last few people I know that did this... still had active LTCs after doing so, for whatever that is worth. GOAL has a handy form letter somewhere on their website for this purpose, although anyone who can write a grocery list can probably
make on in 5 minutes regardless....
Click to expand...
I ratted myself out to EOPS, IA, and PD at new residence within Massachusetts, so I guess I’ll let you know what happens next time I go to buy something
 
LittleCalm said:
You will hand the cop your NH license. Cop will jack you up. Have fun with that even if Mike is technically right, doesn’t sound like a fun time to me.
Click to expand...
I won't tell the OP what to do except to follow the law.

That being said, how many here have been in a situation where a cop is asking you for an LTC? ... my guess is, if that happens, you have bigger problems to worry about and need to be asking for a lawyer and shutting up.

I have had a LTC for over 12 years and before that a resident alien FID. Outside of a gun store, I have never had anyone ask to see my license.
 

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