Waltham LTC Letters of Reference?

[jtc]

This may have been addressed in another thread but I didn't find anything.

My girlfriend is applying for her first ever LTC and is a resident of Waltham. Waltham is one of the "red" cities in this great Commonwealth and their LTC application process requires 3 letters of reference. I am urging her to apply for an unrestricted LTC.

My question is: What do these letters of reference need to say? Is it simply a character reference?

Anyone with experience, please let me know. Thanks!

 

[appraiser]

you can urge her all you want, all she is going to get is a restricted license

 

[BenDover]

I had to get 3 of them for my town. I basically had them write how long they knew me and that they would have no concerns about my being issued an LTC. A friend I go shooting with said something to the effect of "we go shooting together and I am confident that he can responsibly and safely handle and own firearms blah blah blah"

I had them put their contact info in the concluding remarks. Probably 3 sentances total. None of my references were ever contacted BTW.

 

[EcHo]

Walpole required two letters from me, but here are the letters my gf and a guy friend wrote:


To Whom It May Concern:

applicant's name has asked me to provide a recommendation for his application for a Massachusetts license to carry firearms. I am not related to applicant. We first met in 1993 in 1st grade at Fisher School and were classmates for 12 years, until graduation in 2005. We have remained friends during the following years and see each other regularly, often multiple times a month.

I believe applicant's name to be of good character and that he will accept the responsibilities involved seriously, and know of no reason why he should not be granted a license to carry. I recommend that you approve his application.


Sincerely,


name here


and:

To whom it may concern,

I am writing a letter of recommendation for applicant's name, who is applying for a Class A License to Carry. I have known applicant for many years and I believe him to be suitable to carry a firearm. I have gone to the Smith and Wesson Shooting Sports Center with him on multiple occasions and have never seen him act in a dangerous manner; I have only seen him exhibit safe gun handling practices. I believe applicant fully understands the responsibilities of carrying a firearm and will not take those responsibilities lightly.


Sincerely,

name here


Hope this helps.

 

[EcHo]

I forgot to mention this earlier, but Walpole (my town) is a red town as well and I got Target and Hunting. Red towns will almost NEVER issue ALP to first time applicants unless you know a town/district rep or the Chief. On renewal you can try to make your case but most of these Chiefs like to use gun control as a way to push a political agenda; no amount of reasoning or discussion of the facts will change their minds.

 

[Realtor MA]

Waltham requires that the person writing the letter acknowledges that the reference is for a gun permit. Do you have the package from Waltham? It has fairly detailed instructions.
Please don't believe the bs line that you'll never get an unrestricted license in Waltham. If you play your cards right you can get what you're after. That being said, you have to have a good plan! Do it right the first time.

 

[Realtor MA]

I forgot to mention this earlier, but Walpole (my town) is a red town as well and I got Target and Hunting. Red towns will NEVER issue ALP to first time applicants unless you know a town/district rep or the Chief. On renewal you can try to make your case but most of these Chiefs like to use gun control as a way to push a political agenda; no amount of reasoning or discussion of the facts will change their minds.

Nice blanket statement with no factual basis. I particularly like the use of the word never.

 

[EcHo]

The only factual basis I have is a discussion with my police chief. I called him before I submitted my application to ask about his licensing policies, and he gave me a nice speech about how he doesn't believe citizens need to carry guns in public and how he personally never issues ALP unless the applicant has a history of domestic abuse and reason to believe it will continue. Since the OP mentioned nothing about past domestic abuse or living in Mattapan, I can be positive that MY red town would never issue him an ALP.

I like to think labeling a town as "red" means it has similar characteristics of other red towns, so therefore the same reasoning can be applied to his red town.

 

[jtc]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to help put her packet together making sure to dot all the i's and cross all the t's. I was able to get a ALP from Cambridge (RED) without knowing anyone 'high up', so maybe she'll get lucky too. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Realtor MA]

The only factual basis I have is a discussion with my police chief. I called him before I submitted my application to ask about his licensing policies, and he gave me a nice speech about how he doesn't believe citizens need to carry guns in public and how he personally never issues ALP unless the applicant has a history of domestic abuse and reason to believe it will continue. Since the OP mentioned nothing about past domestic abuse or living in Mattapan, I can be positive that MY red town would never issue him an ALP.

I like to think labeling a town as "red" means it has similar characteristics of other red towns, so therefore the same reasoning can be applied to his red town.

Let me start by saying this; Labels are bad. It's a stereotype and a generalization. Now I understand some towns are pretty near impossible but every situation is different.

This has come up a number of times over the past few months. The Chief(or his agent) made a statement and he's hoping you'll take it at face value. ON the other hand, he's already given you one reason why he would issue ALP. I'm sure there are more. As I've stated in other threads this is a negotiation. The Chief is posturing. Find a compelling reason and have at it. YOu might be surprised. The OP got his in a supposed red town. If you don't even try for ALP then you've already lost. The LO made that same statement to me in my town 25+ years ago. We had a nice conversation and by the time all was said and done I had 'protection of life and property'. That was the ALP of that era.

 

[imstuner]

I live in Waltham and I wish you the best of luck getting LTC A ALP. I got a restricted one and the issuing officer was no help. Maybe I was unlucky and went in on a bad day. Make sure you have everything ready and be prepare for every question.

 

[M1911]

I've known several people who got ALPs in Waltham. But it was very hard and you'll have to do one heck of a lot more than simply "play your cards right" to get one.

 

[imstuner]

I was told from the issuing officer they don't give out ALP for the 1st time around and I could apply for ALP when it's renewal time. We shall see if that will happen.

 

[M1911]

I was told from the issuing officer they don't give out ALP for the 1st time around and I could apply for ALP when it's renewal time. We shall see if that will happen.

Between now and then, take a lot of classes (e.g., LFI-1) and become an NRA Certified Instructor.