Facts and Statistics Showing the Failure of Gun Control Legislation in MA

These charts reflect a brief history of the License to Carry Firearms and the Firearms Identification Card. For instance, there are many amendments that were made to the LTC that will take some research to discover their effects. In the future, we hope to be able to provide a more detailed description of the changes made throughout the history of the Massachusetts licensing system.

History of the License to Carry Firearms (LTC)

1906	The license was apparently created by Chapter 172 of the Acts of 1906.
1911	Chapter 548 (Unknown)
1919	Chapter 207 (Unknown)
1922	Chapter 485 (Unknown)
1925	Chapter 284 (Unknown)
1927	Chapter 326 (Unknown)
1936	Chapter 302 (Unknown)
1951	Chapter 201 of the Acts of 1951 added language that seems to have given control of the licensing to the local chief or local licensing authority.
1953	Chapter 319 of the Acts of 1953 deleted the reference to trial justices.
1953	Chapter 454 of the Acts of 1953 (Unknown)
1957	Chapter 688 of the Acts of 1957 rewrote the section covering the LTC.
1959	Chapter 296 of the Acts of 1959 inserted the words "possession" and "narcotic or harmful" in the first sentence.
1960	Chapter 293 of the Acts of 1960 (Unknown)
1969	Chapter 799 of the Acts of 1969 rewrote the language to prohibit minors from being able to acquire a machine gun license.
1972	Chapter 415 of the Acts of 1972 changed the term of a license and increased the fees from $2 to $10.
1973	Chapter 138 of the Acts of 1973 increased penalties for illegally issuing a license.
1973	Chapter 892 of the Acts of 1973 added language that required licensed persons to give notification of a change of address.
1974	Chapter 312 of the Acts of 1974 changed language to provide for a five year machine gun license.
1974	Chapter 649 of the Acts of 1974 added language to provide a 90 day grace period after the expiration of the license.
1975	Chapter 4 of the Acts of 1975 delayed the effective date of Chapter 649 of the Acts of 1974 until April 1, 1975.
1975	Chapter 113 of the Acts of 1975 added language concerning notification of license expiration.
1984	Chapter 420 of the Acts of 1984 inserted in the first sentence "whose license to carry firearms may only be issued under the provisions of section one hundred and thirty-one F" following the words "except an alien".
1986	Chapter 481 of the Acts of 1986 rewrote the entire section covering the LTC. This Act extended background checks and notification of address changes, etc.
1987	Chapter 465 of the Acts of 1987 made a minor change by inserting the word "than".
1994	Chapter 24 of the Acts of 1994 added language concerning individuals subject to a 209A (restraining order).
1996	Chapter 151 of the Acts of 1996 made changes to the law where it refer to the "commissioner of public safety", "colonel of the state police" or "executive director of the criminal history systems board".
1996	Chapter 200 of the Acts of 1996 added "youthful offender language".
1998	Chapter 180 of the Acts of 1998 completely rewrote the section covering the LTC.
1998	Chapter 358 of the Acts of 1998 made changes to paragraphs (d), (j), (m), (o)

History of the FID Card

1968	This was the year that the FID card law was created by Chapter 737 of the Acts of 1968. It took effect on January 1, 1969.
1969	Chapter 799 of the Acts of 1969 rewrote the FID section to make many clarifications.
1971	Chapter 225 of the Acts of 1971 rewrote part of the law to allow the licensing authority to conduct a mental health background check only when the authority doubted the applicant's response to the question of past hospitalization or mental illness.
1972	Chapter 312 of the Acts of 1972 deleted the words "a state prison or penitentiary" from the first paragraph and inserted the word "confinement". It also added "or is (f) an alien" to the language. It made FID Cards valid until revoked or suspended and added the requirement of a Card holder to give notification of change of address.
1976	Chapter 239 of the Acts of 1976 added the provision for residents of federal installations to be issued an FID.
1989	Chapter 339 of the Acts of 1989 substituted in the fourth sentence of the fifth paragraph, the word "thirty" for the word "ten"
1994	Chapter 24 of the Acts of 1994 added clause (g) in the first paragraph which created a disqualifier for anyone that was subject to a "209A" (restraining order). It also added similar language to the second paragraph under "setting other conditions."
1996	Chapter 151 & 200 of the Acts of 1996 changed the language to remove the word "commissioner" where relevant and insert the words "executive director of the criminal history systems board". The second bill inserted clause (h).
1998	Chapter 180 of the Acts of 1998 completely rewrote the section covering FID Cards.
1998	Chapter 358 of the Acts of 1998 rewrote paragraph (3) covering application period.
2000	Chapter 159 of the Acts of 2000 deleted in paragraph (9) the expiration language.
2000	Chapter 236 of the Acts of 2000 corrected the expiration language.