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Although the certication should be good for ever I have no doubt that most chiefs will make you take another safety course and get a new cert.
 
I took my BFS when I was 18, got my FID with it at 19. Got my LTC at 22 with no new course required (by Worcester, no less).

Your instructor was FOS and pretty much dicked you pretty hard on this one.
 
That's BS. If the course is valid for an LTC, then that's what the certificate should indicate. If a student is under 21 they'll only be able to apply for an FID -- that's between them & the PD.
 
atmay said:
I took my BFS when I was 18, got my FID with it at 19. Got my LTC at 22 with no new course required (by Worcester, no less).

Your instructor was FOS and pretty much dicked you pretty hard on this one.
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This!


TBalls said:
That's BS. If the course is valid for an LTC, then that's what the certificate should indicate. If a student is under 21 they'll only be able to apply for an FID -- that's between them & the PD.
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And this too!

Many "instructors" are too ignorant to be instructors, I'm afraid.

What you "qualify for" is based on what you took and the laws surrounding it. If the course is a BFS certified LTC course, that is what should be on the cert, period! Since the law says 21 min age for LTC, then that is all that you can apply for . . . but that is a totally separate issue and the instructor should not be playing "Martha" or G_d in doling out certs!

I hope it works out for you but again don't be surprised if they demand another course to also be dickheads.
 
Call your PD and explain it to them and see what they say, maybe talk to a couple different people there and see if they all give you the same answer.
I had to take it twice because my town will only accept a course taken within a year of your application for the LTC.
 
GMwhiteguy said:
If they give you a problem when you apply take the Worcester P.D. one night LTC course. Its cheep and quick and serves your purpose - and will probably take less time than all the arguing that will come if you go the other route.
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This.
I think I paid $20 because I was living in Worcester at the time, but I think it might be $30 for people out of town. Sign up early because they fill up fast.
 
Thanks for all the help everyone. Im gonna make some calls and see where I end up. Ill keep the thread updated on what happens
 
andypieces said:
This! If I did this to a student, and he reached out later to get his LTC, I would gladly give him a new cert free of charge.

Let me know how you make out, and if I can help.
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Yeah, but you wouldn't have done that to a student in the first place.
 
Remsport Mfg said:
Although the certication should be good for ever I have no doubt that most chiefs will make you take another safety course and get a new cert.
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I believe the class has to have been taken within a specific time frame of the license application. The classes do expire. So I suspect he is out of luck and will need to retake the class to upgrade his license.

I had a friend who took the class but never applied for his license. He waited 1 year. When he did finally apply he was informed he had to retake the class as the law said new applicants must have taken the class within so much time from applying.
 
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ThePreBanMan said:
I had a friend who took the class but never applied for his license. He waited 1 year. When he did finally apply he was informed he had to retake the class as the law said new applicants must have taken the class within so much time from applying.
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There is nothing in the law that specifies an expiration date for certificates. However, chiefs have the power to do what they want (some towns only recognize certificates less than 6 months old).

This is one of the reasons we allow our students to re-take our BFS class at no charge.
 
ThePreBanMan said:
I believe the class has to have been taken within a specific time frame of the license application. The classes do expire. So I suspect he is out of luck and will need to retake the class to upgrade his license.

I had a friend who took the class but never applied for his license. He waited 1 year. When he did finally apply he was informed he had to retake the class as the law said new applicants must have taken the class within so much time from applying.
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REALLY???

Would you like to quote that law for us? Please?
 
ThePreBanMan said:
I believe the class has to have been taken within a specific time frame of the license application. The classes do expire. So I suspect he is out of luck and will need to retake the class to upgrade his license.

I had a friend who took the class but never applied for his license. He waited 1 year. When he did finally apply he was informed he had to retake the class as the law said new applicants must have taken the class within so much time from applying.
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As said above, it's not law, it's "discretion" - I asked my local PD if the Hunter Ed class expired, and he said, "No, no expiration date."
 
peteyb said:
Yes I applied right after receiving the certificate and got my FID a few weeks later
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I think that may be in your favor. The basic course is the basic course. You got your FID on it and I see no reason why you should need a re-test.
When you go for your LTC, bring a copy of your certificate and your current FID. Go in with confidence and if challenged on the basic course dates, get in touch with the previous posters who offered help.
Good Luck.
 
Any updates Petey? What's the course number on the certificate?

ThePreBanMan said:
I believe the class has to have been taken within a specific time frame of the license application. The classes do expire. So I suspect he is out of luck and will need to retake the class to upgrade his license.
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As Len said, please cite a law or regulation. My licensing officer--a coworker--told me personally that they're good infinitely.

The individual licensing authority may require the course be taken within a certain time frame of applying, but as far as the state is concerned they never expire.
 
OfficerObie59 said:
Any updates Petey? What's the course number on the certificate?


As Len said, please cite a law or regulation. My licensing officer--a coworker--told me personally that they're good infinitely.

The individual licensing authority may require the course be taken within a certain time frame of applying, but as far as the state is concerned they never expire.
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As I wrote in my comment, my post was based on experience - not a specific law. I love how sometimes it seems folks only read what they want to out of a post on this place...
 
ThePreBanMan said:
As I wrote in my comment, my post was based on experience - not a specific law. I love how sometimes it seems folks only read what they want to out of a post on this place...
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Did you? Let's review...
ThePreBanMan said:
I believe the class has to have been taken within a specific time frame of the license application. The classes do expire. So I suspect he is out of luck and will need to retake the class to upgrade his license.
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It's the part in bold myself, and I suspect Len also, took issue with. It's an unqualified statement of fact, one I believe is false.

There's enough misinformation out there about gun laws in Massachusetts. Let's not add to it if we're not sure.
 
Per MGL, the Hunter Ed Cert and the BFS Cert are "good for life" unless MGL changes at some point in the future.

That said, under "suitability" and "discretion" there are some PDs that refuse to accept Hunter Ed Certs at all and will put their own "town deadline" on BFS Certs.

Normally if there is a mistake or problem with a cert, the student can re-contact the instructor and ask him to re-issue a corrected BFS Cert. However when an instructor goes out of their way to be a total a-hole and screw the student isn't someone that I would want to deal with again. I'd try to get it straightened out with the PD and LO instead if at all possible. The Certs are NOT sent to the FRB so it "stops" at the LO's desk and if he knows that the course was a LTC-course and the instructor was being a dickhead, he should make it right for the applicant.
 
Sorry it took so long to update this guys. The course number on the certificate is FID-001, so no luck there. Like Lens said I really don't want to deal with the instructor again unless I have to.

So I took a trip to my local PD today after work to try and talk to the LO about my issue. Unfortunately, he wasn't there but the officer at the front desk asked what my issue was so I explained it to him. I showed him the certificate and he thinks Ill be all set to apply for an LTC. Obviously Im not gonna get my hopes up until I speak to the LO, but hopefully everything works out. I still have all of the paperwork from the course I took including the receipt and course booklet, so that may also help my case. I do live in a green town as well, and Ive met the LO a few times and he is a really nice guy. Ill just have to wait and see but with any luck I will be good to go.
 
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