Chapter 140 of the General Laws creates the licenses. Chapter 269 creates the offense of carrying without one. The license to carry firearms (LTC)...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Chapter 140 of the General Laws creates the licenses. Chapter 269 creates the offense of carrying without one. The license to carry firearms (LTC) issues under MGL c. 140, s. 131; the firearm identification card (FID) under MGL c. 140, s. 129B. The criminal prohibition is MGL c. 269, s. 10, with a repeat-offender enhancement at MGL c. 269, s. 10G.
Massachusetts rewrote this framework in 2024. Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024 struck out section 131 and inserted a replacement (SECTION 49), and inserted five new sections after section 121A, ending with section 121F (SECTION 32). Material describing the old structure of section 131, including lettered subsections running past (h), no longer matches the statute in force.
Section 131 no longer carries the disqualification standards. As restructured it runs only from (a) through (h), and it hands that question off. It keeps two threshold conditions of its own, and both have to be satisfied before section 121F is reached at all.
Who may apply, s. 131(d). The subsection opens the application to "[a] lawful resident 21 years of age or older residing within the jurisdiction of the licensing authority or any law enforcement officer employed by the licensing authority or any person residing in an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction located within a city or town." Twenty-one is the floor for an LTC, and on the residency route the application goes to the licensing authority where the applicant lives. The other two routes do not depend on residing in that jurisdiction. Such a person may apply for an LTC or renewal, "which the licensing authority shall issue as provided under section 121F only if it appears that the applicant is neither a prohibited person nor determined to be unsuitable to be issued a license as set forth in said section 121F, provided that upon an initial application for a license to carry firearms, the licensing authority shall conduct a personal interview with the applicant."
Safety certificate, s. 131(b). "No license shall be issued under this section unless the applicant submits with their application a basic firearms safety certificate meeting the requirements of section 131P." That is an absolute condition on issuance, independent of the section 121F grounds. Section 129B(b) imposes the same condition on the FID, with the certificate stated as "a basic firearms safety certificate or other certificate meeting the requirements of section 131P."
Clearing section 121F is therefore necessary but not sufficient. An applicant who is neither a prohibited person nor unsuitable still cannot be issued an LTC without meeting the section 131(d) age and residency terms and submitting the section 131P certificate.
Section 121F is the operative disqualification section for licenses under sections 122, 122B, 122D, 129B, 131 and 131F, and two distinct grounds for denial sit in it.
Prohibited person. Under s. 121F(j) a licensing authority shall deny an application or renewal to a person it determines to be a prohibited person. The categories cover disqualifying convictions and adjudications (felonies, misdemeanors punishable by more than 2 years, violent crimes as defined in section 121, firearms and controlled substances offenses, and misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33)); specified mental health and substance use commitments; listed protective, harassment prevention, and extreme risk protection orders, and orders described in 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8); an outstanding arrest warrant; not being a United States citizen or national and not maintaining lawful permanent residency; and dishonorable discharge. One more category belongs on that list. St. 2024, c. 135, SECTION 32, the act that inserted section 121F, ends the prohibited-person enumeration with "(vii) is a fugitive from justice." The codified text of s. 121F(j) does not carry that clause. It stops at clause (vi), the dishonorable discharge clause, closes on the disjunctive "or," and is followed immediately by subsection (k). The session law and the codified section diverge on this one clause. The 5 year limit s. 121F(j)(i) attaches to several conviction categories is written for the FID, not the LTC.
The mental health and substance use clause is not an unqualified bar, and the relief routes are written into it. Clause (j)(ii)(A) reaches commitment to a hospital or institution for mental illness or alcohol or substance use disorder, "except a commitment pursuant to sections 35 or 36C of chapter 123, unless after 5 years from the date of the confinement the applicant submits with the application ... an affidavit of a licensed physician or clinical psychologist attesting familiarity with the applicant's mental illness or alcohol or substance use disorder and that in the physician's or psychologist's opinion, the applicant is not suffering from a mental illness or alcohol or substance use disorder in a manner that shall prevent the applicant from possessing a licensed firearm." Clause (B), commitment by court order for mental illness, does not apply where the applicant was granted a petition for relief of the order under MGL c. 123, s. 36C and submits a copy of the order with the application. Clause (C), a probate court guardianship or conservatorship for an incapacitated person on the grounds that the applicant lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage their affairs, does not apply where relief was granted under MGL c. 215, s. 56C. Clause (D), a commitment for alcohol or substance use disorder under MGL c. 123, s. 35, does not apply where relief was granted under that same section. Each of those three relief routes requires a copy of the court order to be submitted with the application.
Unsuitability. Under s. 121F(k) a licensing authority shall deny an application or renewal to a person it determines to be unsuitable. The statute states the test: "A determination of unsuitability shall be based on reliable, articulable and credible information that the applicant has exhibited or engaged in behavior that suggests that, if issued a permit, card or license, the applicant may create a risk to public safety or a risk of danger to themselves or others." Such a denial must be in writing and set forth the specific reasons.
Where the preponderance standard applies. Section 121F carries a preponderance standard, but it sits in one place and should not be transplanted onto LTC denials. Under s. 121F(l), for an FID the licensing authority may not deny on unsuitability grounds and may instead petition the district court, which holds a hearing within 90 days. That petition is its only route to an unsuitability denial of an FID. That finding "shall be based on a preponderance of the evidence that there is reliable, articulable and credible information" meeting the same behavioral test, and absent a judgment within 90 days the applicant is automatically deemed suitable. For an LTC, the licensing authority itself makes the unsuitability call under s. 121F(k).
Section 121F(u)(1) also requires revocation or suspension upon any event making a holder a prohibited person, and s. 121F(v)(2) gives an aggrieved applicant or holder 90 days to seek district court review.
These are not tiers of the same permission. They cover different hardware.
Section 131(a) provides that an LTC "shall entitle a holder thereof of a license to purchase, rent, lease, borrow, possess and carry firearms, including large capacity firearms and ammunition therefor," while withholding large capacity feeding devices and assault-style firearms unless permitted under section 131M. Section 131(c) adds that an LTC is also valid for rifles and shotguns that are not large capacity or semi-automatic.
Section 129B(c) sets the FID ceiling at rifles and shotguns that are not large capacity or semi-automatic, plus their ammunition. It then states that an FID "shall not entitle a holder thereof to transfer, possess or carry any other firearm including any large capacity firearm, any large capacity or semiautomatic rifle or any large capacity or semiautomatic shotgun except under the direct supervision of a holder of a license to carry firearms at an incorporated shooting club or a licensed shooting range."
Read both against the c. 140, s. 121 definition, which the carrying offense also uses. Section 121 defines "Firearm" as "a stun gun, pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, sawed-off shotgun, large capacity firearm, assault-style firearm and machine gun, loaded or unloaded, which is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a shot or bullet," together with the frame or receiver, and excludes antique and permanently inoperable firearms. The term is not limited to handguns. It includes rifles and shotguns.
The line between the two credentials is therefore not handgun versus long gun. It is drawn by capacity and action. The FID stops at rifles and shotguns that are not large capacity or semi-automatic; anything past that line, including any pistol or revolver, requires the LTC.
Section 131 licenses a person to "carry firearms." It draws no concealed-versus-open distinction, and nothing in section 131 or section 129B grants an affirmative right to carry openly. Manner and place of carry are governed by the restrictions below.
Section 10(a) reaches whoever, except as provided or exempted by statute, "knowingly has in his possession; or knowingly has under his control in a vehicle; a firearm, loaded or unloaded, as defined in section one hundred and twenty-one of chapter one hundred and forty" without a listed exemption. Because section 121 defines "firearm" to include rifles and shotguns, that opening clause is broad. Its exemptions are presence in or on his residence or place of business; an LTC in effect under section 131; an LTC in effect under section 131F; having "complied with the provisions of sections one hundred and twenty-nine C and one hundred and thirty-one G of chapter one hundred and forty"; or, as to an air rifle or BB gun, compliance with section 12B. That fourth route carries a dangling cross-reference: St. 2024, c. 135, SECTION 64 repealed section 131G, leaving section 129C as the surviving path. Section 10(a) then sets a second list keyed to "a rifle or shotgun, loaded or unloaded," and that list does include an FID issued under section 129B. The first list does not.
The residence and place of business exemption is not a licensing exemption, and the same subsection says so: "The provisions of this subsection shall not affect the licensing requirements of section one hundred and twenty-nine C of chapter one hundred and forty which require every person not otherwise duly licensed or exempted to have been issued a firearms identification card in order to possess a firearm, rifle or shotgun in his residence or place of business." Being at home or at your business answers the s. 10(a) carrying charge. It does not remove the requirement to hold a card or license in order to have the firearm there at all.
The grading that closes s. 10(a) reads:
shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than two and one-half years nor more than five years, or for not less than 18 months nor more than two and one-half years in a jail or house of correction. The sentence imposed on such person shall not be reduced to less than 18 months, nor suspended, nor shall any person convicted under this subsection be eligible for probation, parole, work release, or furlough or receive any deduction from his sentence for good conduct until he shall have served 18 months of such sentence
The subsection adds that "Prosecutions commenced under this subsection shall neither be continued without a finding nor placed on file," and that MGL c. 276, s. 87 probation authority does not apply to a person 18 or older charged under it. The only stated relief from the 18 month floor is a narrow custodial temporary release for a relative's funeral, a critically ill relative, or emergency medical or psychiatric care unavailable at the institution.
The license defense is stated directly: "No person having in effect a license to carry firearms for any purpose, issued under section one hundred and thirty-one or section one hundred and thirty-one F of chapter one hundred and forty shall be deemed to be in violation of this section."
What section 131F is. Section 131F is the temporary license to carry firearms for non-residents. Its catchline on the Legislature's site still reads "Nonresidents or aliens," but that wording predates the 2024 act and the body no longer matches it: St. 2024, c. 135, SECTION 61 struck the words "alien that resides outside the commonwealth" from the section and inserted "a citizen or national of the United States or a person who maintains legal permanent residency." Section 121F(j)(v) separately makes a person who is neither a citizen nor a lawful permanent resident a prohibited person. Section 131F turns up at four points in section 10: as an exemption in the s. 10(a) list, as one of the two licenses named in the defense just quoted, as a defense to the s. 10(m) large capacity offense, and in the s. 10(k)(4) secure storage defense.
The statute provides that a temporary license to carry firearms or feeding devices or ammunition therefor within the commonwealth "shall be issued by the colonel of state police, or persons authorized by him, to a nonresident or any person not falling within the jurisdiction of a local licensing authority," and, for purposes of firearms competition, to a citizen or national of the United States or a person who maintains legal permanent residency. Issuance turns on the same test as the LTC: only if it appears that the applicant is not a prohibited person and is not determined unsuitable to be issued a license as set forth in section 121F. That routing is recent. St. 2024, c. 135, SECTION 62 struck the reference to section 131 in section 131F and inserted 121F in its place.
The license is valid for one year, and the colonel may renew it if renewal is necessary. The fee is $100, payable to the licensing authority, not prorated and not refunded on revocation or denial. The license must be clearly marked "Temporary License to Carry Firearms" and may not be used to purchase firearms in the commonwealth. A large capacity firearm may be carried under it only where that entitlement is clearly indicated on the license. Two categories of nonresident may receive a term of up to two years: an employee of a bank, public utility corporation, money transfer or similar firm, or a firm licensed as a private detective under MGL c. 147, whose application is endorsed by the employer; and a member of the armed services stationed within the commonwealth who has the written consent of their commanding officer.
Firearms Records Bureau guidance directs applicants to apply in the city or town where they reside, and a person who is not a resident of the commonwealth to apply through the Bureau, appearing in person there for a first nonresident LTC application. Where the section 129C(k) route below is limited to a firearm that stays in the vehicle, a section 131F license is a license to carry, and s. 10(a) and the license defense treat it the same way they treat a section 131 license.
Section 129C carries real weight alongside that defense, because s. 10(a) incorporates it by reference. Section 129C(k) permits a nonresident to carry a firearm on their person while in a vehicle lawfully traveling through the commonwealth, with no out-of-state license precondition, provided the firearm remains in the vehicle and, when outside the owner's direct control, is stored in the vehicle in accordance with section 131C. Section 129C(j) separately covers nonresident possession of rifles and shotguns that are not large capacity or semi-automatic for hunting, ranges, transit, and collector displays. Carrying without a Massachusetts license is therefore not automatically a s. 10(a) offense.
Expired, but not disqualified: s. 121F(t). There is an express statutory escape from the offense described above, and it sits in chapter 140 rather than chapter 269. A person holding an LTC issued under section 131 or an FID issued under section 129B whose license or card is invalid for the sole reason that it expired, and who is not otherwise disqualified from renewal upon application, "shall be subject to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $5,000 and section 10 of chapter 269 shall not apply." The fine replaces the mandatory minimum entirely.
The carve-outs are the whole game. Subsection (t) does not apply to a license or card that has been revoked or suspended, that is the subject of a pending revocation or suspension, or whose renewal application has been denied. The revocation and suspension carve-outs have their own exception: they do not defeat the escape where the revocation or suspension was caused by failure to give notice of a change of address. Subsection (t) also expressly excludes licenses and cards that remain valid under s. 121F(s), which keeps an expired LTC or FID valid for all lawful purposes in three situations. Under (s)(i), where the holder applied for renewal before the expiration date, the license or card stays valid until that application is approved or denied. Under (s)(ii), where the holder is on active duty with the armed forces on the expiration date, it stays valid until release from active duty and for not less than 180 days after, and if renewal is applied for within that period, until the application is approved or denied. Under (s)(iii), it stays valid while the expiration period has not yet exceeded 90 days beyond the stated date, "unless such license to carry or firearm identification card has been revoked or suspended."
Those three routes do not all close at the same point. Only (s)(iii) runs out at 90 days; (s)(i) and (s)(ii) can carry a license well past that. Subsection (t) governs where no (s) route still applies. Finally, (t) is written for section 131 licenses and section 129B cards only. A temporary license under section 131F is not in it.
Aggravated gradings within section 10. Under s. 10(m), knowing possession or vehicle control of a large capacity firearm or large capacity feeding device without a valid LTC under section 131 or 131F carries state prison for not less than two and one-half years nor more than ten years, with a one year floor on reduction and the same bars on suspension, probation, parole, furlough, work release, and good conduct deductions; a valid FID is not a defense, though a charged person holding one is not subject to that mandatory minimum. Under s. 10(n), violating paragraph (a) or (c) by means of a loaded firearm draws a further term of not more than two and one-half years in the house of correction, from and after the underlying sentence. Under s. 10(d), a second offense among paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) draws five to seven years in state prison, a third seven to ten, and a fourth ten to fifteen.
MGL c. 269, s. 10G escalates a violation of s. 10(a), (c), or (h) based on prior convictions. One prior conviction for a violent crime or a serious drug offense carries state prison for not less than three nor more than 15 years (s. 10G(a)); two such priors from separate incidents, ten to 15 years (s. 10G(b)); three from separate incidents, 15 to 20 years (s. 10G(c)). Section 10G(d) applies the same bars on reduction, suspension, probation, parole, furlough, work release, and good conduct deductions until the minimum is served. Section 10G(e) defines "violent crime" by reference to MGL c. 140, s. 121, and "serious drug offense" by reference to listed federal drug statutes carrying a maximum of ten years or more and to comparable MGL c. 94C offenses.
An LTC is not a universal pass. Two subsections of section 10 apply notwithstanding a chapter 140 license.
Educational property, s. 10(j). As amended by St. 2025, c. 14, s. 51, effective August 5, 2025, this paragraph applies "notwithstanding any license obtained by the person pursuant to chapter 140." A person who is not a qualified or qualified retired law enforcement officer under 18 U.S.C. 926B and 926C, and not a currently certified officer under MGL c. 6E, and who carries on their person a firearm, loaded or unloaded, or other dangerous weapon in any building or on the grounds of any elementary or secondary school, college, or university, including student transport, without written authorization from the board or officer in charge, "shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 2 years or both." The c. 6E route carries a proviso: to qualify for the exemption, the officer's certification "shall not be suspended, limited or restricted and the officer shall be permitted to perform police duties and functions involving firearms in accordance with chapter 6E and the regulations promulgated thereunder."
Prohibited areas, s. 10(k). Added by the 2024 act, s. 10(k)(1) punishes possessing a firearm, loaded or unloaded, in a prohibited area while knowing or reasonably being expected to know the location is one, "by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 21/2 years, or both such fine and imprisonment." Section 10(k)(2) defines "prohibited area" as (i) government-owned, leased, or controlled places used for government administration, judicial or court administrative proceedings, or correctional services, including buildings, grounds, and parking areas, excluding state-owned public hunting land and municipal administrative buildings excluded by vote under MGL c. 4, s. 4; and (ii) a location in use for ballot storage or tabulation, or a polling place or early voting site while open for voting or within 150 feet of its entrance door.
Section 10(k)(4) supplies a defense: a person holding the necessary card or license under sections 129B, 131, or 131F who securely stored the firearm in a vehicle while within the prohibited area, in accordance with sections 131C and 131L. Section 10(k)(5), as amended effective August 5, 2025, exempts certified MGL c. 6E officers, qualified and qualified retired officers under 926B and 926C, and security guards employed at the prohibited area. Two of those exemptions are bounded. The security guard exemption runs only "while at the location of their employment and during the course of their employment," and the c. 6E exemption carries the same proviso as s. 10(j): the certification must not be suspended, limited or restricted, and the officer must be permitted to perform police duties and functions involving firearms under chapter 6E and the regulations promulgated under it. The clause also preserves authority for municipalities, counties, and state entities to restrict firearms further in areas under their control.
In a vehicle, s. 131C. Under s. 131C(a), a loaded firearm carried in a vehicle under a section 129B, 131, or 131F license or a section 129C exemption must be under the person's direct control; violation carries a fine of $500. Section 131C(b) sets a separate and heavier rule for long guns: a large capacity rifle or shotgun possessed in a vehicle under a section 131 or 131F license or a section 129C exemption must be unloaded and secured in a locked container as defined in section 121, and violation carries a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000. On conviction of either, s. 131C(d) requires the licensing authority to revoke the card or license immediately, with no new card or license for 1 year after the revocation date.
School zones, 18 U.S.C. 922(q). Under 922(q)(2)(A) it is unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone. A "school zone" under 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(26) includes ground within a distance of 1,000 feet from the grounds of a public, parochial, or private school. Section 922(q)(2)(B) lists exceptions, including private property not part of school grounds and, at (B)(ii), possession by an individual "licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located or a political subdivision of the State," where state or local law requires law enforcement authorities to verify the individual's qualification before the license issues. That exception is keyed to the state where the school zone sits, so an out-of-state license does not satisfy it. Section 922(q)(4) says nothing in the subsection preempts or prevents a State or local government from enacting its own gun free school zone statute, which is why c. 269, s. 10(j) applies on its own terms.
LEOSA, 18 U.S.C. 926B and 926C. Section 926B(a) provides that notwithstanding any other provision of the law of any state or political subdivision, a qualified law enforcement officer carrying the identification required by subsection (d) may carry a concealed firearm that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, subject to subsection (b). Section 926C(a) does the same for a qualified retired officer. Both carry the same two carve-outs at subsection (b): neither supersedes state laws that permit private persons or entities to restrict concealed firearms on their property, or that restrict firearms on any state or local government property, installation, building, base, or park. That second carve-out matters here, because the c. 269, s. 10(k)(2)(i) prohibited-area category is built around government-controlled property. Massachusetts also writes 926B and 926C status into its own exemptions at c. 269, s. 10(j), s. 10(k)(5), and c. 140, s. 131M(e).
Where c. 269, s. 10 carries alternate texts keyed to August 5, 2025, the version described here is the later one. Because s. 10(k)(5) preserves authority to restrict firearms further on government property, confirm local policy alongside the statute. This section states what the statutes provide and is not legal advice.
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