Types of Licenses

Massachusetts generally requires any person who wishes to purchase or possess a firearm to obtain a Firearm Identification Card or a License to Carry, pursuant to a background check.¹ Each entitles the holder to different privileges, described below.

An Firearm Identification Card (“FID”) card enables the holder to purchase or possess rifles and shotguns that are not considered “large capacity” or semiautomatic firearms and ammunition therefore.² (“Large capacity weapon” includes assault weapons and most firearms capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition or more than five shotgun shells (either directly, or via a large capacity feeding device).³

A license to carry (“LTC”) allows the holder to purchase, rent, lease, borrow, possess and carry all types of lawful firearms, including both large and non-large capacity handguns, rifles, shotguns, and feeding devices and ammunition for these firearms.⁴ For further information on licenses to carry, please see the Concealed Weapons Permitting section.

Licensing Standards:

Any person residing within the jurisdiction of a city or town police department (“licensing authority”), or any person residing in an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction located within a city or town, may submit to the local licensing authority an application for a FID or a license to carry.⁵ A temporary license to carry firearms may also be issued by the colonel of state police to a nonresident of Massachusetts or to any person not falling within the jurisdiction of a local licensing authority “for purposes of firearms competition if it appears that the applicant is not a prohibited person and is not determined unsuitable.”⁶

State law requires applicants to pass a background check to verify that they are eligible to receive a FID or License to Carry, as described below. Massachusetts also generally requires all first time applicants for FID Cards and Licenses to Carry to complete a certified firearms safety course; however, a qualifying hunter education course can be substituted for the safety course for those applying for an FID card. Applicants must submit a certificate verifying that they completed the course with their application for an FID or LTC.⁷

Firearm Identification Cards (FID)

The licensing authority shall issue a FID unless the applicant is ineligible due to the firearm prohibitions described in the Firearm Prohibitions in Massachusetts section.⁸ If the licensing authority denies the applicant, it must notify the applicant of the reason for the denial in writing.⁹ If the licensing authority deems the applicant “unsuitable” it may file a petition requesting the district court deny the application on unsuitability grounds.¹⁰ Once the petition is filed, the court has 90 days to hold a hearing to decide whether the applicant is unsuitable.¹¹ “A determination of unsuitability shall be based on a preponderance of the evidence that there is reliable, articulable and credible information that the applicant has exhibited or engaged in behavior that suggests that, if issued a firearm identification card, the applicant may create a risk to public safety or a risk of danger to self or others.”¹²

Licenses to Carry (LTC)

A license to carry may be issued if the applicant is not legally ineligible under the standards described in the Firearm Prohibitions in Massachusetts section, is not found unsuitable. If the licensing authority denies the applicant, it must notify the applicant of the reason for the denial in writing.¹³ For more about license to carry standards, see the Concealed Weapon Permitting section.

License Application Process

In the application process for either a FID or a license to carry, the licensing authority must forward one copy of the application and one copy of the applicant’s fingerprints to the colonel of state police (“colonel”) who must, within 30 days, advise the licensing authority, in writing, of any disqualifying criminal record, and whether there is reason to believe that the applicant is otherwise disqualified from possessing a FID or license to carry.¹⁴ The colonel shall utilize files maintained by the department of probation “and statewide and nationwide criminal justice, warrant and protection order information systems and files including, but not limited to,” the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (“NICS”).¹⁵

Additionally, “[t]he licensing authority shall make inquiries concerning the applicant to: (i) the commissioner of the department of criminal justice information services relative to any disqualifying condition, any prior permit, card or license information, any record of restraint and application for hospitalization…and records of purchases, sales, rentals, leases and transfers of firearms or ammunition concerning the applicant; (ii) the commissioner of probation relative to any record contained within the department of probation or the statewide domestic violence record keeping system concerning the applicant; and (iii) the commissioner of mental health relative to whether the applicant is a suitable person to possess firearms….”¹⁶

The licensing authority has 40 days from the date an application is submitted to approve or deny the application for an FID or LTC.¹⁷

Massachusetts law also prohibits any person from using a FID or a license to carry for the purpose of purchasing a firearm for the unlawful use of another, or for resale of a firearm, or giving a firearm to, an unlicensed person.¹⁸

An FID is generally valid for six years from the date of issue.¹⁹ A license to carry is similarly valid for not more than six years from the date of issue.²⁰

The licensing authority is required to revoke or suspend an individual’s card or license if the individual becomes prohibited at a later time.²¹ The procedure to relinquish a person’s firearm license and weapons after they become legally disqualified from keeping firearms is detailed in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 129D.

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1. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, §§ 129B; 131, 131F. [↩]
2. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, §§ 129B(6).[↩]
3. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121.[↩]
4. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131E.[↩]
5. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, §§ 129B, 131.[↩]
6. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131F.[↩]
7. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131P.[↩]
8. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, §§ 121F(j), 129B(a), 131(d), 131F.[↩]
9. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121F.[↩]
10. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121F.[↩]
11. Id.[↩]
12. Id.[↩]
13. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121F.[↩]
14. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121F.[↩]
15. Id.[↩]
16. Id.[↩]
17. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121F.[↩]
18. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131E(b).[↩]
19. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 129B(9).[↩]
20. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 131(i).[↩]
21. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140, § 121F.[↩]