About a year ago, I had given one of the guys at work the necessary class to get his carry permit. When he sent in his application, the chief of police in his town (in MA the town police issues the permit after having the State Police do the necessary checks) had him come in for an interview. He had a couple of blemishes on the application for driving under and possession of pot while in college. Both were continued without a finding, so they should not have played a part in the decision. However, the chief rejected his application, based on his being an "unsuitable person" without even forwarding the application on to the State Police for research.

Fast Forward to this year. The chief is gone due to numerous issues in town. It is unclear as to whether he left voluntarily, or was pushed out. I strongly suggested to my friend to re-apply for the permit. In just over two weeks he has his permit! Now he's shopping for a 1911.

Good for him!  I'm still fighting for my permit, but stories like this one make the wait a little less frustrating.  Thanks for posting it.z

Congrats to your friend, but good luck finding a 1911 in MA.  Last few I saw were at 4 Season's Guns in Woburn at a considerable markup.

Gun Room in Shrewsbury has a decent Essex, and Sparky's in Webster a Norinco (that's on AuctionArms as well), but you're right, there are slim pickings, and of course, all used.

I'm fighting(well the lawyer is)the same problem in MA . What's this forwarding it on to the state polce for research? They(state)issued my FID but I was under the assumption that the 'TOWN' issued the others?

The State Police (aka dept of Public Safety) does the background check on all permits. The town does the actual issue/denial.