With the closing of our house today, I believe I'm officially a non-resident of MA, although I'm not 100% sure of the legal definition of a non-resident.  I've read the MA law and summaries from the goal web site "http://www.goal.org/misc/faq/nonresidents.pdf" and I was shocked to learn that an out of state license to carry was $100 and is only good for one year.

Does anyone know if this is a calendar year?  I don't think I can justify paying $100 and waiting until September or October to get an LTC that expires at the end of the year.  

Also, I have a MA Resident Hunting license that I purchased in January when I was a MA resident.  Do you think I have to go buy a non-resident hunting license to go hunting this fall in MA?  I'm not sure.  If I get stopped while hunting in MA this fall, I will be able to produce a valid MA Resident Hunting License and a un-expired MA LTC.  As long as I'm not carrying my NH driver's license (can be left in the truck) I think I'm fine since I have valid credentials.  

Once I stop hunting, I can unload my shotgun, lock it and become a NH resident traveling through the Commonwealth to my home state (it is nobody's business why I'm in camo).  

Ironically, I had to buy a NH non-resident hunting license since you must be a resident of NH for six months before being able to by a resident hunting license.  I think this strenghtens my case since I would have a MA resident LTC and hunting license, along with a NH non-resident hunting license.  

Thoughts?  

Quoted: With the closing of our house today, I believe I'm officially a non-resident of MA, although I'm not 100% sure of the legal definition of a non-resident.

Where you vote and pay taxes, and where your primary domicile is, determine where you are from. Just moved to NH? Lucky you- you are now a resident of NH. If you haven't moved there yet, and still live in MA, then you are still a MA resident.

I've read the MA law and summaries from the goal web site "http://www.goal.org/misc/faq/nonresidents.pdf" and I was shocked to learn that an out of state license to carry was $100 and is only good for one year.

Guess what? The Commonwealth of Ma$$ only wants the rich and powerful to have guns. Esp. if they are non-residents.

Does anyone know if this is a calendar year?  I don't think I can justify paying $100 and waiting until September or October to get an LTC that expires at the end of the year.

No idea, but if it's like a resident LTC-A, it's good from the time of issuance. Check with MA FRB or Office of Public Safety. Expect two answers on the same question, though. They never got back to me, though, as to whether my wife, who is a UK citizen with a green card here in MA, can get a license for pepper spray....they often have no idea about the very laws they are supposed to enforce.

Also, I have a MA Resident Hunting license that I purchased in January when I was a MA resident.  Do you think I have to go buy a non-resident hunting license to go hunting this fall in MA?

Yep. Again, once you are no longer living in MA, all your MA resident IDs and permits, just like drivers' licenses, are no longer valid.

I'm not sure.  If I get stopped while hunting in MA this fall, I will be able to produce a valid MA Resident Hunting License and a un-expired MA LTC.  As long as I'm not carrying my NH driver's license (can be left in the truck) I think I'm fine since I have valid credentials.

You are asking for trouble. Your licenses as they are now, if you will have already moved to NH by then, will no longer be valid, so you run the risk of running afoul of the accursed Bartley-Fox law, which says all modern firearms can only be possessed by holders of valid gun licenses in MA, or else it's jail time/fine city AND loss of civil rights.

Once I stop hunting, I can unload my shotgun, lock it and become a NH resident traveling through the Commonwealth to my home state (it is nobody's business why I'm in camo).

Oh, yeah, lying to cops. Goooood idea - NOT! There are NH gun owners who have been arrested in MA for just driving over the border with a gun in the car. Not a good idea, w/o a license, unless you can prove you are coming from CT/RI through MA to NH. Then the Fed. FOPA law comes into play BUT your guns must be unloaded, in locked cases, (preferably with trigger locks as well), all ammo and mags must also be put away stored in back of car, too, and not with guns. MA cops are good guys, usually, but a lot of them are sociology grads and HATE guns- esp. civilian guns.

Ironically, I had to buy a NH non-resident hunting license since you must be a resident of NH for six months before being able to by a resident hunting license.  I think this strenghtens my case since I would have a MA resident LTC and hunting license, along with a NH non-resident hunting license.   Thoughts?

Once you have moved to NH, all your previous licenses you have mentioned, are now invalid. Otherwise, with Officer Krupke in either state, you'd have no case. License up!

Just be grateful you are now a NH resident, and start by mail ordering brand new hi-cap magazines for your rifles and pistols for $15 bucks a pop.

Quoted: Does anyone know if this is a calendar year?  I don't think I can justify paying $100 and waiting until September or October to get an LTC that expires at the end of the year.   Thoughts?

Last I checked (April, 2005)  term is for twelve consecutive months from issue.
I can't imagine any reason to change that.

Yes, a hundred bucks is a kick in the pants.  That said....you can buy curren manufacture pistols, won't have to comply with the 1994 AW ban, and are not represented by Ted Kennedy and also ran...

NR LTCs are good for a year, but I honestly don't know exactly how it works except to say that it does NOT work on a calendar year basis.

Since it takes as much as 6 months to get a NR LTC issued (or renewed), what I do not know is:
- Is it 1 year from application date?
- Is it 1 year from issue date?

Resident LTCs are good for (newly issued since last year's law change) between 5 and 6 years, expiring on your birthday. (NLT 5, NMT 6)

It's a bit more complicated than where I pay taxes since I bought a house in NH in June and I just sold my house in MA today.  Technically, I owned two houses and I pay taxes to both states.  However, during hunting season I agree that I will be a non-resident.  

While there is a risk - suppose I was involved in some sort of accident - I don't think it is such a big deal.  According to the law, http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/140-131g.htm, I'm allowed to be in possession of a firearm if I'm hunting in MA and have a "hunting or sporting license issued by the Commonwealth".  The only gotta that I can see is that I'm using a MA hunting license, but out out of state gun possession rules.  

Can anyone confirm when someone moves, if the LTC number is marked as expired or invalid on some computer system?  Of will Fish and Game credit your resident license fee towards a non-resident fee?  

ETA:  the receptionist at the Westboro District Office indicated that my resident hunting license is still valid this fall since I was a legal resident of MA when it was issued.  I said I was surprised, but she indicated that she often gets this question and as long as I have paid a fee to the state, that I was all set for the rest of the year.....  Interesting, but I'm not sure I would take that as legal advice.  

Quoted: NR LTCs are good for a year, but I honestly don't know exactly how it works except to say that it does NOT work on a calendar year basis. Since it takes as much as 6 months to get a NR LTC issued (or renewed), what I do not know is: - Is it 1 year from application date? - Is it 1 year from issue date?

Recall Chief Glidden's book discussing this, in view of 'how to give someone a LTC valid for as long as possible'.  IIRC, one year from issue date.  Going from application date gets fuzzy, and makes little sense - date you mail it, date PD receives it, date appropriate officer gets around to looking at it?  

Quoted: Can anyone confirm when someone moves, if the LTC number is marked as expired or invalid on some computer system?  Of will Fish and Game credit your resident license fee towards a non-resident fee?

You have 30 days to fill in a change of address form, and send it as a registered letter, to the Mass Criminal Systems History board, and two more non registered letters to your old and new town's police chief.   Failure to do so will result in revocation of your license, according to Mass laws.  Len S can chime in and give more details I'm sure.

Since it's a move out of state, this regulation is very murky, but when I moved to NH I sent this same
form (available at any police station in Mass) to both my old police chief's town, and the Board in
Boston.   I did this because I intended to trade a gun or two in NH soon, and didn't want hastles if they
wound back up in Mass legally, but still showed up as owned by me, and now the new owner.

Ed is right. However our system never flushes your ownership info from the database, even if you leave the state, etc. That's why it is really useless.

Once you leave MA, you need to notify (I think Certified/Return Receipt IS required for all notifications on this, but not 100% positive) CHSB (state) and issuing town's chief within 30 days. Once you do this, your LTC is "invalid" and the computer system should reflect it on any queries.

When Resident LTCs are issued (old paper system, as I have no experience with new MIRCS system), they are typed up with a "issue date" filled in. They were supposed to put your next birthday as the issue date (assuming renewal) or most recent birthday (or "today" - date it is typed) if being done for first time just after your birthday.

So, when you apply for NR LTC for the first time, whatever date gets entered (by MA State Police who process NR LTCs) I have no idea . . . however the long delay in issuing must impact useful life of the LTC.

I've mailed my change of address notifications to my old cheif and the Criminal Board, whether or not it is required for an out of state move.  I have absolutely no intention of ever moving back to MA, but if my employer agreed to pay me $100 million per month, I may change my mind.  Should that unlikely scenario ever occur, I don't want to have an issue when I try to reapply for my LTC.  

By the way, I called my old CLEO yesterday to ask what happens to my LTC and didn't think an officer would be able to 'field check' my LTC to confirm it's validity.  He said the officer would most assume it was valid.  If someone did something illegal, they would be arrested and the LTC validity would be chased down as part of the arrest.  

It's only going to be a problem if you get arrested doing bad things.

Is hunting in MA better than NH, you can't even use rifles here can you??

My non-resident military permit is good for two years in Massachusetts - however - it expires on my birthday so Massachusetts screwed me out of 6 months. I live in NH even though I am stationed in Mass - I doubt I will be reknewing my Mass LTC Class A ALP nonresident permit next year. I avoid Mass. like the plague on general principle. I grew up in the backwoods of Maine so Massachusetts as an entity has never agreed with me - and after living on the South Shore for a year - I'll NEVER go back there to live.  

I've got a sweet little area in MA that I will continue to hunt during the bow and shotgun seasons.  I'm probably screwing my season by saying this, but it would be almost impossible not to get a deer in my little honey hole.  If you don't have one already, submit for a 5 year MDC permit.  This will get you better access to more land than the average Joe.  

NH rifle hunting is only for the Northern part of the state, but the farther North you go the fewer deer there are.  MA has a pretty healthy deer population for a New England state, you just have to do some legwork and find where they all hole up.  

This is especially true in East of 495, where some huge deer have shot or killed by cars.  I think the 3rd largest buck in MA history was hit last year on 128.  Buy a bow, build up some courage (it is tough the first few times) and knock on doors in Waltham, Lincoln, Concord, etc.  Based on my experience, it is tougher to get permission to hunt their land then it is to see deer.  I've gotten everything from scowls, doors simply shut in my face with a 'no' to sure, as long as you follow these rules...  

Good luck