Gun Owners' Action League
November 29, 2012 
License Renewal Alert
Please Contact Your State Legislators - Ask Them To Support This Legislation.
Emergency License Renewal Legislation Filed
Representative George Peterson and Senator Richard Moore will be filing emergency legislation to address the Massachusetts firearm licensing crisis in the next few days.

For many months lawful gun owners who have been steadfastly attempting to comply with the Massachusetts gun laws have met roadblock after roadblock. According to the Commonwealth's laws applications for a Firearm Identification Card (FID) or a License to Carry (LTC) must be processed within 40 days. Within the last few months hundreds of GOAL members who are experiencing delays in the application process have contacted our office. As of late it is not unusual for an applicant to wait six months for the process to be completed. Some members have informed us that they are forced to wait months for a simple appointment to get the process started. Under current law licensed owners are only protected for 90 days after the expiration. After that exemption is exhausted persons in possession of guns may be fined $500 - $5,000.

Unfortunately for the lawful gun owners of the Commonwealth this is not a new problem. As far back as 1974 GOAL filed legislation to grant licensed gun owners a grace period due to application problems. The same happened in 1976 and again in 2004. In 2004 the wait got as long as 12 months. Now we are facing yet another breakdown of the firearm licensing system. Taking into account that Massachusetts residents pay $100 for their license, more than double any other New England state, there is simply no excuse for these issues to continue to arise. One thing that has become increasingly evident is that the State is not capable of administering the licensing system it has put in place. Perhaps that in itself is a testimony to the incomprehensible set of gun laws that lawful citizens have to deal with on a daily basis.

With all of the evidence at hand and the immediate urgent nature of a system wide failure, GOAL is asking the legislature to act on a piece of emergency legislation to do away with the term of an FID or LTC. The legislation would simply make these licenses valid until revoked or suspended. This would take the burden away from the state that it evidently can't handle and the potential fines and serious issues with technically being an expired licensed gun owner in Massachusetts. GOAL would urge all of our members to contact their local legislators to sign onto to this emergency legislation and enact it before the end of the year.
On behalf of the members of GOAL we would like to thank Representative Peterson and Senator R. Moore for addressing this matter for the lawful gun owners of the state.

An Act Relative to the Term of Firearm Licenses

SECTION 1. Section 129B of Chapter 140 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, shall be amended by striking paragraph (9) in lines 170 to 186 and replacing it with the following:-
(9) A firearm identification card shall be valid unless revoked or suspended. 

SECTION 2.  Section 131 of Chapter 140 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, shall be amended by striking in paragraph (i) in lines 231 to 245 the words "A license to carry or possess firearms shall be valid, unless revoked or suspended, for a period of not more than 6 years from the date of issue and shall expire on the anniversary of the licensee's date of birth occurring not less than 5 years but not more than 6 years from the date of issue, except that if the licensee applied for renewal before the license expired, the license shall remain valid for a period of 90 days beyond the stated expiration date on the license, unless the application for renewal is denied if the licensee is on active duty with the armed forces of the United States on the expiration date of his license, the license shall remain valid until the licensee is released from active duty and for a period of not less than 90 days following such release. Any renewal thereof shall expire on the anniversary of the licensee's date of birth occurring not less than 5 years but not more than 6 years from the effective date of such license. Any license issued to an applicant born on February 29 shall expire on March 1." and replacing it with the following:-

A license to carry or possess firearms shall be valid unless revoked or suspended.

SECTION 3.  Section 131 of Chapter 140 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, shall be further amended by striking in paragraph (i) in lines 271 to 274 the following:-

Any person over the age of 70 and any law enforcement officer applying for a license to carry firearms through his employing agency shall be exempt from the requirement of paying a renewal fee for a Class A or Class B license to carry.

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Thank you for reading, remember, this email and everything GOAL does is made possible by our membership.  If you are not a member, please get in the fight and join GOAL
 
Sincerely,
 
Mike Sweeney
Communications Manager
Gun Owners' Action League