NH residents shooting in MA...

Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
2,842
Likes
98
Location
Nashua, NH
Feedback: 1 / 0 / 0
Hi,

I've a question for any NH based shooters. I was wondering how many of you have actually gone through the pain of obtaining an MA license? Is it worth it? How hard actually is it? The rumor is that since it's the MA State Police that do it it's a fairly benign process.

It would be nice if I could travel with my guns south of the border to take up other member's offers to shoot at their clubs as a guest. It would also be nice for me to join a club like Westford since I could shoot at lunch or to/from work.

My understanding is that it's $100 for 1 year, but that the law might be changed to make the life of the license longer.

Thanks
 
My understanding is that it's $100 for 1 year, but that the law might be changed to make the life of the license longer.
I am not aware of any indication that there is any activity that might extend the period of the non-resident license.

The procedure was recently changed to require non-residents to apply in person, and upon each renewal. As the "in person" requirement was administrative, rather than a change in statute, there is the possibility the FRB will change the procedure to require the in-person visit only for the initial application.
 
I'm in Mass every day so it was worth it to me. I even had a CWF that I thought gave me a good chance at getting DQd but it didn't. It took me about 8 weeks to get it. That was last Spring though and I understand the process has changed.
 
Last edited:
I briefly considered it...until the "in person" requirement. I work in MA, but my workplace has a violently no-gun policy.
 
I'm from CT and used to shoot at S&W in Springfield on a regular basis.

It is relatively benign compared to a resident permit. YOu deal direcly with the state police, so none of that municipal sheriff anti-gun crap. Its a clearly laid out administrative process.

However, it is a pain in the butt process. It is effectively a full application process every year. No renewals. Well. They may call it a renewal, but you need to do prints and a background check every year. It also cost ~$100 / year.

In the end , I decided it was not worth it. I just put the guns in the trunk and took them to S&W. I don't have any desire to carry in MA. So I rolled the dice.

Most of the times, I was going to one of the local IDPA shoots anyway. MA law says that if you are participating in a (not sure of the exact word) sanctioned shooting match, you are good to enter the state with your handguns for the sake of the match.

Here is an interesting quandry. I used to stay over at the IDPA winternationals that they had at Smith and Wesson. There were evening activities. So I had 2 choices.

1) leave the guns in the hotel room
2) carry the guns illegally, unloaded, to the event.

I ahve an ethical problem with leaving a gun someplace like in a car or in a hotel room, and I didn't want to break the law.

In the end, I ended up stripping my Glock 34 down to just the frame. No slide assembly / recoil spring / barrel and no mag. Just an empty frame.

I put that in my jacket pocket and went out for the evening. If someone wants to arrest me for carrying that piece of tupperware around with me, they were welcome to go for it.

The slide and mags were left in the hotel room.

Don
 
Back
Top Bottom