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...You'll have to take an approved safety course...
a.) Any person lawfully licensed with a FID card on June 1, 1998 shall not be required to complete the statutorily required BFS course or submit a BFS certificate for:
1.) subsequent FID card renewals; or
2.) subsequent LTC licensure and renewals.
If an individual was licensed on 6/1/98, no safety course is required...
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eopster...mr300_instructors_course_surrender&csid=Eeops
If an individual was licensed on 6/1/98, no safety course is required...
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eopster...mr300_instructors_course_surrender&csid=Eeops
Hmm. Interesting. For some reason I thought it worked like hunting licenses, and a 12 y/o expired one wouldn't work, but it's good to know that it will.
Thanks.
This burns really burns me that the government thinks nothing about waiting their magical fiat scepter and doing this.
Can you imagine if a Costco or BJs issued lifetime memberships and then one day said, 'they're no longer lifetime...and you must pay for them every 3 years going forward."
Martha would swoop down on them like the wraith of god for unconscionable business practices. I guess those don't apply to the state.
So I just need to renew?
No safety Course is needed?
I know someone that had the "forever" FID get expired, and since they had a varsity letter in Riflery, that was considered "good enough". After all, if they'd got the memo, and renewed as soon as the old one went bad, they would not have had to take the course.
Some PDs are more mellow, YMMV
I still have my old FID the the "indefinate" expiration date (Ha!). I never got a notice about them expiring it but I wasn't actively involved with shooting at the time. I had a shotgun and an old .22 locked up in deep storage at my folks house. I thought about it at the beginning of the year and decided to check out the status of my FID and perhaps get a handgun. What a surprise.... Things really changed from the 80's. When I went to get my LTC they still had me in the system, so they put me in for an upgrade and everything turned out fine (I did take a NRA basic pistol safety course for familiarization and...safety). After doing a lot of reading about mass gun laws I can't believe the position I had placed my folks in without either of us knowing about it..
FWIW, the requirements for an LTC are practically the same as for an FID, so you may as well apply for one of those.
So I just need to renew?
No safety Course is needed?
By MGLs we were all grandfathered. But under "suitability" and "chief's discretion" they can demand whatever they wish and most judges would go along with them as being "reasonable" (even if we think otherwise)! Thus the problem.
They didn't notify anyone, turning thousands of law-abiding citizens into criminals in a single instance.
I believe they sent out something in the mail, but didn't do a very good job of it.
If all you want is an FID, yes. If you want an LTC (what you'll need in order to lawfully purchase/possess a handgun 99% of the time), then maybe.
If I was going to wager a guess I would bet that the state had absolutely no idea how many FID holders are out there when GCA98 went into effect. I bet there are also many thousands of gun owners in this state that are effectively out of legal compliance as a result.
-Mike
I'd recommend applying for both if you can afford it. LTC's can be revoked randomly, FID's cannot.
One guy in Concord, MA avoided jail only because he was able to produce proof of an old, expired FID. I heard his testimony in front of the Jt. Comm on Public Safety . . . he kept the FID in his rifle case, had inquired about getting a new license, Concord PD held him and went to his house, confiscated his rifle case (with FID) and refused to give him the FID to use in his defense (they charged him with criminal possession of firearms without any license). He eventually had to get proof thru CHSB to use in his defense. Ended up in a civil lawsuit against the PD (outcome unknown to me).