I'm all for every gun owner being a gun club member (practice, practice, practice) UNLESS they have adequate land that they can practice on otherwise. HOWEVER, I am not for any gov't mandate that one "must" be a member of a gun club in order to get/keep any permit.
+1
Definitely a big deal. If Holyoke PD required crap like that I wouldn't have been able to get my LTC at all. I moved to MA, enlisted, and shipped out for active duty all within the span of a few months. Only people I knew in the whole state at the time were my parents and my recruiter.
Yup. How screwed up is it that you have to have friends with writing skills to even apply for a license? You're not the only one in that boat. I had a relative in Mass. who was well-to-do, had a clean record, took all the required courses, but didn't socialize with anyone other than his family, and the local PD said "no family reference letters."