Interesting column on buying a gun in Massachusetts...

[spin]

ON A BEAUTIFUL May morning I leave my house and walk a short distance to a shop advertising "sporting goods and firearms." As I approach the counter, a man asks if he can help. Trying not to stammer, I say I want to buy a gun. I have various stories prepared to explain my odd request but he simply asks, "Do you have a permit?" When I say no, he says that I need one from the police, which they will issue only after I have taken a gun safety course. This costs around $100. I leave the shop clutching not a deadly weapon but several phone numbers.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/05/18/the_nation_of_the_armed/

[NeedleCast]

1. Pretty much how it's supposed to work

Edit to add: It's funny, but as a person who grew up around rifles and handguns, the author of this article is exactly what comes to mind when I think of Mass. and gun ownership. My most recent ex-girlfriend was the same way and grew up in Mass. and Conn. She had an irrational fear of guns until I taught her how to use one and took her to the range a few times. Now she owns her own and still take it to the range from time to time.

[spin]

2. I do like the requirement for a firearms class...

several times in Florida, I've seen an individual arrive at the range to practice and show their weapon to the range master. Realizing that they were unfamiliar with shooting, he asked, "Is the weapon loaded?"

They replied, "I'm not sure." The range master would smile and politely begin their education on firearms and firearm safety. I often wonder how many other people have a weapon in their house that they are unfamiliar with.

[MineralMan]

3. Interestingly, the columnist didn't identify what sort of

firearm she wanted to buy. As it turned out, she wanted a handgun, and wants to carry it concealed. She's going to have to jump through more hoops than she realized.

Now, had she wanted a rifle or shotgun, things would have been much simpler, at least in most states. I doubt she's going to get her concealed carry permit, frankly. She could buy a shotgun, though, without so much hassle.

On the other hand, it was good that she took the class and got some training, even if it was very minimal. If that weren't required, she might have purchased her handgun, had no training whatsoever, and done herself or someone else an injury.

It's all a mixed bag.

[MineralMan]

4. Well, I see I was mistaken.

One cannot buy even a shotgun or rifle in MA without taking the class and paying $100 for a Firearms ID Card. So, you'll be out a couple hundred bucks before you even go to the store to pick up your firearm and ammunition.

I don't like that. In MN, as in most states, you only have to be over 18 and go through the Federal check. No waiting period. You pays your money and takes your long gun home. Handguns require more paperwork here, even if you don't carry them concealed. You have to get a purchase permit from your local police or sheriff's department. The fee isn't high, and they must issue it unless they have cause. Concealed carry requires the CCW classroom stuff.

[NeedleCast]

5. Columist is not kidding when he says MA has strictist gun laws

They do, by a lot, in most cases.

[MineralMan]

7. Sure sounds like it. And living in Boston, I doubt

that she'd ever be issued a CCW permit. NYC is even more difficult, as I understand.

Since Minnesota has such a long history of hunting among the population, it's unlikely to adopt such draconian rules. I have a CCW permit here, although I virtually never carry.

[safeinOhio]

10. The way they drive in Boston

No one should have a gun.

[spin]

11. If more people in Mass. carried firearms in their vehicle...

people might drive better.

I had always been known as a somewhat wild and crazy driver until I started carrying a firearm in the car. I actually slowed down and stopped flipping the bird at the idiots who would cut me off.

Now this may sound strange to the anti-gun crowd who believe that everyone who has a weapon in their car or who carries concealed is looking for a chance to "blow someone away". It worked for me. Many of my other friends who carried agreed that they were more polite and careful not to provoke an encounter. The majority of the people who have access to a firearm realize that if they ever use it, they had better be right in the decision. Plus they better be blameless in provoking the incident.

Perhaps that's why they say "an armed society is a polite society".

[spin]

12. I hear you have to be rich and famous to get a concealed...

carry permit in NYC.

[Raskolnik]

6. I am genuinely baffled about what the author's point is. n/t

[MineralMan]

8. I think it is that she's scared, both of risks of needing defensive

stuff and of the very defensive weapons she seeks. She's just describing the process, as far as she knows it. She's not going to get her CCW permit, though. Not in Boston. MA is a "may issue" state, and the requirements for issuance are almost impossible for most people to meet. She will get the Class B Firearms ID, though, which will let her buy a shotgun or rifle.

[michreject]

9. If she went to New Hampshire and bought a pistol

she would have committed a felony. A resident of one state cannot do a face to face transaction in another state that is not your state of residence. She made it sound like it was no problem but was to lazy to make the drive.