Also- should I buy a $4,000 preban HK rifle only to have it illegal if I lose my LTC? what the hell good is anything if I cant own it 5 years from now.
Well, that's a personal decision you have to make. You can move to a
better town (assuming your disqualification isnt statutory in nature) or
move to a a free state, like NH.
FWIW, most licensing problems are not outright "denials". People are usually
only denied a permit for statutory reasons, unless some major event
happens to you (eg, like that marine that fired a shotgun out his window
and then got acquitted). Most problems for most people are restricted
licenses. Many times people have permits downgraded when they move
into an anti town, and they didn't know it was that way until they went to
renew.
If one is going to stay in MA, its wise to investigate the local issuing authority
and their standpoint on licensing. If you're going to move into another
town, you have to do that all over again, to make sure you're not going to
get shackled on a renewal. Granted, its never a guarantee, (eg, chiefs
change jobs, policies change, etc).
Me personally, if I was downgraded on a renewal or was told to take a
restricted license, I'd just leave MA. I'm already on a thread about this
state as it is. Having A/ALP, for me, is the minimum I'd consider to be
a barely acceptable existence. Anything less than that is really
bad. Keep in mind that at best, MA is retardedly bad with gun
laws. Having an A/ALP just means that the poop sandwich of gun laws
one encounters here will have a layer of mint frosting on top. That doesn't
change, however, that you're still forced to accept a poop sandwich.
-Mike