As we know, Massachusetts has some of the worst Second Amendment infringements in the country. They are attempting to worsen it.
To own a firearm in Massachusetts, you have to have the state’s permission. This is a firearm owner’s identification. I don’t know what its official name is. I have been reliably informed that they are called a FID in Massachusetts
I learned about this bit of nasty when I was working for Sun Microsystems down in the Boston area. My boss, who was a gun owner, was telling me the story of how he lost access to his guns for a while.
He, like many other surfs in Massachusetts, got one of these FOID like cards when they were first issued. He was fairly young at the time. The card was good for life.
He had to move somewhere and transferred his firearms to his father for safe keeping. When he came back into the state, he asked his father for his firearms back. His father asked if he had his FOID.
“Of course I have,” he said and pulled out his card.
His father explained to him that the card that was good for life had been cancelled. FOID cards now expired. My boss had to apply and do all the processes to get a new FOID to get his firearms back from his father.
But did you know that you need that same ID to possess ammunition or ammunition components in the kingdom of Massachusetts?
That’s right, you have to show your card to purchase ammo. Or parts to make ammo. Like primers, shell cases, bullets, and powder. All require the king’s permission to purchase or possess.
How bad is this? A few years ago, a history professor went down to Virginia to visit some Civil War battlefields. While there, he found or was given a musket ball from the battle. When he returned to his university, he placed it in a little display on his desk.
Somebody noticed. That somebody then reported it to the police. The police came, identified it as a bullet and asked to see his FOID. This professor was an anti-gun infringer, of course he didn’t have a FOID. He was arrested for having “ammunition components without a FOID”.
This went to court. In court, the judge agreed with the state, and it was later upheld: A 100+ year old musket ball was an ammunition component. The professor got jail time.
Why do I hate them so much? Because I have to enter Mordor from time to time.
A few years back, I was driving down to Mordor to pick up my kids from an event they were attending. I was driving my wife’s car. I happened to notice some 30-06 blank cases sitting in the dash. My kids had picked them up from the Honor Guard rifle solute on Veterans Day.
I didn’t think anything about it until I got home. Then I got the cold sweats. Those empty shell casings were go-to-jail on a felon count for each one if I had been pulled over by a cop. If my wife had been pulled over, it was likely she would have talked herself into extra charges.
Every time I go to Mordor, I check my coat pockets to make sure I haven’t picked up a shell casing, either on purpose or accidentally. I’ve had cases bounce into my pockets when shooting at the range.
Know the regulations for where you are, for where you are going, for the places in between. Then check, double check, and then check again.
There are people out there that would like nothing less than to stitch you up for an extended stay on felony charges because you are a firearms owner.
I used to go there alot for work. Now I “just say no”..Many who fled that state came to mine and immediately wanted to make my state just like thiers….
Kind of makes me want a 5- to 10-year waiting period before new state residents can vote in local and state elections.
That would solve some of the Californians colonizing free states issue, especially if you require a citizenship test. I’m thinking in Oregon correctly pronouncing Champoeg and proving ownership of a firearm banned in Cali would do it. Bonus points for a hunting or fishing license and a dirt bike.
Or “Willamette” (hint: it’s not “Will-uh-MEHT”).
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Or “Chemeketa” or “Chemawa”, if you’re in the Salem/Keizer area.
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Or the correct pronunciation of “Couch Street” in Portland.
Having grown up in Hyannis Port and the Berkshires and spent most of my adult life before 2003 in MA, when I decided to begin my first retirement, I knew I had to stop sounding like Elmer Fudd if I was going to Florida to escape Liberal Leftist Land. I had vacationed in Florida many times and new the area I was moving to quite well.
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Since it would take time to change an ingrained accent from Fuddville, I planned a three-month drive south on route 1, stopping at every place of notoriety, on the way south. I practiced changing my accent to a Florida dialect. Each place I stopped I’d ask an employee, “Where do you think I’m from?” Each time I’d get interesting answers, NJ, PA, MD, and then SC after about ten days of travel. By the time I entered GA, I was told I sounded like I was from AL. Good enough, should work in Florida.
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I also knew one more truth about Florida, and that is, if you want something a business doesn’t have in stock, when asked when you want it, you always say, “No rush, cause one should never rush a good thing”. Within a couple of days, the product would be delivered with a smile.
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Twenty years later the only regret I have is that I was not born here. The land of farmers and fishermen all packin heat with a smile. Home sweet home.
It’s an “FID card”. It used to apply to long guns and their ammo. (.22LR was a bit sticky because you _could_ put it in a handgun. 😉) I’m also old enough to remember when mine was good for life.
I also remember picking brass after cemetery ceremonies. I also remember having to tell my Scouts that they could not take them when our troop participated in those ceremonies.
A main reason why I no longer live there.
The latest version of the “Imprison Honest Gunowners Act” would have chased me out if I was not already out.
I took the MA LTC course that the Sig Academy teaches. I’m going to go through the process of getting my MA LTC to cover my ass. They do not issue FID (FOID are Illinois cards) to non residents.
I does shock me they will issue LTC to non residents, doesn’t really follow the spirit or logic of anything else they do.
Sadly we are only still marginally better in CT.
@Lenard: They don’t make it easy or simple.
Presumably this process discourages many from even trying.