If you live in Massachusetts, you apply for a firearm license to the licensing authority for the city or town where you reside. If you do not, MGL c....
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
If you live in Massachusetts, you apply for a firearm license to the licensing authority for the city or town where you reside. If you do not, MGL c. 140, § 131F sends you elsewhere: a temporary license to carry is issued by the colonel of the state police, and the state's firearms FAQ says the Firearms Records Bureau issues non-resident LTCs as the designee of the Colonel of the State Police. Either way, under MGL c. 140, § 121F the licensing authority has 40 days from receipt of a completed application under §§ 122, 122B, 122D, 129B, 131 or 131F to either issue the license or deny it and give you the reason in writing. Nothing issues until the colonel of the state police certifies that the available information does not show the issuance would violate state or federal law. The Acts of 2024, Chapter 135 moved the application, denial, fee, renewal notice and appeal rules out of the individual license sections into § 121F. The 6-year license term stayed behind in §§ 131(e) and 129B(d).
Under § 131(b) and § 129B(b) no license or card issues unless you submit a basic firearms safety certificate meeting MGL c. 140, § 131P, and § 131P(a) bars the licensing authority from accepting or processing an application without it attached. Section 131P does not apply at all to officers, agents or employees of the commonwealth or any state, members of the military or other service of any state or the United States, or duly authorized municipal law enforcement officers, agents or employees, each when authorized by a competent authority and acting within the scope of their duties.
Residents file with the police department in the city or town where they reside. Non-residents file with the Firearms Records Bureau. Either can apply online through the MIRCS Unified Gun Portal, which the state offers for both new and renewal applications, and the state says to contact your licensing authority to arrange payment if you file that way. A resident package can instead be mailed or brought in person to the local licensing authority. A non-resident package must be mailed to the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services, Firearms Records Bureau, 200 Arlington Street, Suite 2200, Chelsea, MA 02150, and the state says a non-resident may need an in-person appointment, in which case you are contacted with an appointment date after the application is received.
The state lists what a resident package contains: a complete Resident Firearms License Application, the required application fee, a Massachusetts Basic Firearms Safety Course certificate on new applications only, an affidavit of lost or stolen firearms on all renewals, a form of identification, and any additional documentation your local licensing authority requires. It adds that you may need proof of residence. The non-resident package is a complete Non-Resident License to Carry Firearms Application, the required fee, a safety course certificate on new applications only, and an affidavit of lost or stolen firearms on all renewals.
Section 121F(e) has the licensing authority inquire about you to three offices: to the commissioner of DCJIS as to any disqualifying condition, any prior license information, any record of restraint and application for hospitalization under section 12 of chapter 123, and records of purchases, sales, rentals, leases and transfers of firearms or ammunition; to the commissioner of probation as to any record in the department of probation or the statewide domestic violence record keeping system; and to the commissioner of mental health as to whether you are a suitable person to possess firearms.
If DCJIS returns a section 12 restraint and hospitalization record, the authority must then inquire of the law enforcement agency that submitted it about the circumstances, and must consider those circumstances in deciding suitability. The subsection Chapter 135 added at chapter 123, § 36C(e) requires a second inquiry as well, to the court that ordered or denied the commitment, about the circumstances and the reasons for the order or denial, which matters most if your commitment was denied. You may submit for the authority's consideration an affidavit of a licensed physician, advanced practice registered nurse or clinical psychologist attesting familiarity with your mental illness and that in their opinion you are not impacted by a mental illness in a manner that should prevent you from possessing a firearm.
Documents a law enforcement agency sends to DCJIS about a section 12 restraint may not include any information about or descriptions of the person's medical or psychiatric diagnosis, treatment plans, mental health medications, mental health care providers or other information of a clinical nature. No person is prohibited under §§ 122, 122B, 129B, 131 or 131F due solely to a section 12(a) or 12(b) restraint and application for hospitalization unless the licensing authority determines the person is disqualified or unsuitable under § 121F. That information may be used solely for firearm background checks and may not be disclosed to any other party for any other purpose. A person denied without a court commitment order may, five years after the denial, petition the court that denied the commitment to restore the ability to possess a firearm.
Section 121F(j) requires denial to a prohibited person, which includes a person convicted or adjudicated a youthful offender or delinquent child, here or elsewhere, for a felony, a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for more than 2 years, a violent crime as defined in § 121, a violation of any firearms or ammunition law for which a term of imprisonment may be imposed, a violation of a chapter 94C controlled substances law or a substantially similar law elsewhere, or a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33). For an FID under § 129B, the misdemeanor over 2 years, firearms law and controlled substances grounds disqualify only for 5 years after the conviction, adjudication, or release from confinement, probation or parole supervision, whichever is later. The list also reaches a person committed for mental illness or alcohol or substance use disorder, subject to the affidavit and relief routes in clause (ii); a person currently subject to a chapter 209A suspension, surrender or protection order, an order described in 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8), a chapter 258E harassment prevention order, an extreme risk protection order under §§ 131R to 131Y, or a similar out of state order; a person subject to an outstanding arrest warrant; a person who is not a citizen or national of the United States and does not maintain lawful permanent residency; a person discharged from the armed forces under dishonorable conditions; and a fugitive from justice.
Unsuitability is separate. Under § 121F(k) a denial for unsuitability must rest on reliable, articulable and credible information that you have exhibited or engaged in behavior suggesting that, if licensed, you may create a risk to public safety or a risk of danger to yourself or others, and the authority must state the specific reasons in writing.
Section 121F(l) strips the licensing authority of power to deny an FID on unsuitability grounds. Its only route to an unsuitability denial is to petition the district court, on a written statement of reasons provided to you, which stays the application. That limit reaches unsuitability and nothing else. Under § 121F(j) the authority itself must deny an FID application, or a renewal of one, to a person it determines to be a prohibited person. The court decides on a preponderance of the evidence, and if no judgment of unsuitability is entered within 90 days of the petition, judgment that you are suitable is entered automatically.
Under § 121F(o) the fee for an application or renewal of any license, card or permit is $100 unless the section says otherwise. An LTC for active and retired law enforcement officials, or for government entities acting on their behalf, is $25, as is an FID for a person under 18 or a self-defense spray permit under § 122D. Section 121F(n) makes fees payable to the issuing authority and not prorated or refunded on revocation or denial, and § 121F(p) exempts any person over 70, and any law enforcement officer applying for an LTC or FID renewal through their employing agency, from the renewal fee. Section 131F sets the same $100 fee for a non-resident temporary license, payable to the licensing authority and not prorated or refunded on revocation or denial.
An LTC under § 131(e) and an FID under § 129B(d) each run for not more than 6 years and expire on the anniversary of your date of birth falling not less than 5 nor more than 6 years from issuance, with a February 29 issuance expiring March 1. Under § 121F(r) DCJIS sends notice of expiration not less than 90 days ahead with a renewal form, including an affidavit verifying no firearm has been lost or stolen from your possession since your last issuance or renewal. Section 121F(s) keeps an expired license valid for all lawful purposes if you applied for renewal before the expiration date, until the renewal is approved or denied. It also stays valid for 90 days past the stated expiration date unless it was revoked or suspended, and it stays valid if you are on active duty with the armed forces on the expiration date, through that duty and for at least 180 days after release. Once those windows close, § 121F(t) fines a holder whose license is invalid solely because it expired not less than $100 nor more than $5,000, and section 10 of chapter 269 shall not apply, so a lapse by itself is not charged as unlawful possession. That protection drops away if the license was revoked or suspended for anything other than a late address change, is facing revocation or suspension, or had a renewal application denied. A firearm confiscated on a lapse comes back if you provide proof of reinstatement within 1 year of the confiscation. Report any address change on the DCJIS electronic firearm registration system within 30 days under § 131(g) and § 129B(e), since late notice is cause for revocation or suspension.
None of that renewal relief reaches a non-resident temporary license. Section 121F(s) covers only an expired license to carry issued under § 131 and an expired firearm identification card issued under § 129B, and § 121F(t) closes with a sentence saying the subsection shall not apply to temporary licenses to carry under § 131F. The 90-day window and the fine-instead-of-prosecution treatment are therefore not available on a non-resident license, and the state says there is no grace period for non-resident firearms licenses. Section 131F makes the temporary license valid for one year, and the state says non-resident firearms licenses expire after one year from date of issue. The colonel may renew such a license if the renewal is necessary. Two categories can run longer under § 131F: a non-resident in the employ of a bank, a public utility corporation, a firm engaged in the business of transferring monies or a business of similar nature, or a firm licensed as a private detective under chapter 147, whose application is endorsed by the employer, and a member of the armed services stationed within the territorial boundaries of the commonwealth who has the written consent of the commanding officer. Either may be issued a license for any term not to exceed two years, expiring in accordance with § 131. A temporary license must be clearly marked "Temporary License to Carry Firearms" and may not be used to purchase firearms in the commonwealth as provided in § 131E, and a large capacity firearm may be carried on it only if that entitlement is clearly indicated on the license. Section 131E itself no longer exists: St. 2024, c. 135, SECTION 59 provides that "Section 131E of said chapter 140 is hereby repealed," while section 131F still refers to it. Ask the Firearms Records Bureau what the purchase bar reaches before relying on its scope.
Under § 121F(u)(1) the licensing authority shall revoke or suspend a license, card or permit issued under §§ 122, 122B, 122D, 129B, 131 or 131F on the occurrence of any event that makes the holder a prohibited person as defined in § 121F(j). It may also revoke or suspend on a subsequent determination of unsuitability under § 121F(k), or on satisfactory proof that the holder has violated or permitted any violation of chapter 140. For an FID under § 129B the authority instead files a petition in the district court, and that petition itself effects the suspension or revocation pending a judicial determination of sufficient evidence of unsuitability, which the court must make within 15 days of the filing. Section 121F(u)(2) requires the revocation or suspension to be in writing and to state the reasons, and provides that no pendency of proceedings before the court operates to stay it. A revoked or suspended license may be reinstated only on the termination of all disqualifying conditions.
Under § 121F(v)(2), an applicant or holder aggrieved by a denial, revocation or suspension may petition for judicial review in the district court having jurisdiction where the application was filed or the license was issued. You have 90 days after receiving notice, or 90 days after the time limit for the authority to respond expires, unless a hearing was already held under § 131S or § 131T, chapter 209A or chapter 258E. Section 121F(v)(3) lets the court order the license issued or reinstated on a finding that there was no reasonable ground for the action and that you are not prohibited by law from possessing it.
Under § 121F(f), knowingly filing an application for a permit, card or license under §§ 122, 122B, 122D, 129B, 131 or 131F containing false information draws a fine of $500 to $1,000, or 6 months to 2 years in a house of correction, or both. The same sentence puts whoever knowingly issues any such permit, card or license in violation of chapter 140 at the identical grade, so the provision reaches the issuing side as well as the applicant. Under § 131P(d), knowingly submitting a safety certificate containing false information draws $1,000 to $5,000, or up to 2 years in a house of correction, or both. Under § 131P(e), an instructor who knowingly issues a certificate to someone who did not successfully complete an approved course faces $5,000 to $10,000, or up to 2 years in a house of correction, or both.
Section 131P(c)(ii) as amended has instructors forward copies of issued certificates to DCJIS, which forwards a copy to the applicant. 515 CMR 3.04(4) still directs completion information to the Department of State Police, Licensing Unit, 470 Worcester Road, Framingham, MA 01702. EOPSS Guidance #4 tells instructors that course instructors will be required to upload copies of completed certificates to the MIRCS Portal created by DCJIS, and that individuals who completed the course will have access to the certificate through that portal. Send to DCJIS, and satisfy the regulation as well until it is updated to match.
This page covers one part of our Massachusetts concealed carry guide.
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