Can You Conceal Carry in Massachusetts? LTC Rules and 2024 Changes

Yes, you can carry a concealed handgun in Massachusetts, but only if you hold a Massachusetts License to Carry (LTC). The state treats open and concealed carry identically under the same license, does not recognize permits issued by any other state, and imposes a mandatory 18-month jail sentence on anyone caught carrying without one. Concealed carry in Massachusetts is legal, but the path to it is one of the more demanding in the country.

Who Qualifies for an LTC

You must be at least 21 years old and a lawful Massachusetts resident living within the jurisdiction of the police department you apply to. The statute requires that you be “neither a prohibited person nor determined to be unsuitable.”¹

Several categories of people are barred outright:

Any felony conviction, adult or juvenile, results in permanent ineligibility.
A conviction for any misdemeanor punishable by more than two years in prison, including OUI after May 27, 1994, is a permanent bar.
Any conviction classified as a violent crime is a permanent bar.
A controlled substance conviction disqualifies you. Trafficking is permanent; other drug convictions may be waived after five years.
An active Chapter 209A restraining order, or a similar domestic violence order from another state, blocks eligibility.
Any outstanding arrest warrant, state or federal, blocks eligibility.

Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) adds its own prohibitions, including felony conviction, domestic violence misdemeanor conviction, dishonorable military discharge, and adjudication as mentally defective.² A federal bar controls even where Massachusetts might otherwise clear you.

Past commitment for mental illness disqualifies you, but not necessarily forever. An affidavit from a licensed physician confirming you are fit to possess a firearm can restore eligibility. Past treatment for drug addiction or habitual drunkenness disqualifies you for five years from the treatment date, after which a physician’s affidavit can also restore eligibility.

The Suitability Standard After Bruen and Donnell

Beyond hard disqualifiers, licensing authorities can deny an application on grounds of “unsuitability.” Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, Massachusetts no longer requires you to show a “good reason” for wanting a license.³ The suitability inquiry itself survived, but with limits.

In 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided Commonwealth v. Donnell, holding that licensing officials cannot exercise “unfettered discretion” over otherwise qualified applicants. A suitability denial must rest on “narrow, objective, and definite standards,” not on an official’s subjective judgment about the applicant.⁴ In practice, a denial now needs specific, documented evidence of conduct that creates a public-safety risk.

How to Apply

Before you file anything, complete a state-approved Basic Firearms Safety Course. These are taught by independent instructors certified by the Massachusetts State Police and typically run one day.⁵ A Hunter Safety Course certificate also satisfies the requirement. The course is only mandatory for first-time applicants.

You will need the completed Resident Firearms License Application, your safety course certificate, proof of Massachusetts residency (driver’s license or utility bill), and the $100 application fee, which is nonrefundable even on denial.⁶ The application is available through the state’s MIRCS Unified Gun Portal, the Firearms Records Bureau website, or your local police department.

Submit everything to the police department in the city or town where you live. Most departments require an in-person appointment that includes a personal interview with a licensing officer, fingerprinting, and a photograph. Your fingerprints go to the Massachusetts State Police Identification Section for state and national criminal record checks.⁷ Answer every question truthfully. A false statement can end the application and produce criminal charges.

How Long It Takes

Under the 2024 firearms law, your licensing authority must act on a completed application within 40 days of receiving it.⁸ The Colonel of the State Police must separately certify within 30 days that issuing the license does not violate state or federal law. Actual timelines vary by department, from a few weeks to the full statutory window or beyond. You will get a mail or phone notification once the decision is made.

If Your Application Is Denied

You have 90 days to appeal a denial to the district court with jurisdiction over the police department that denied you.⁹ That deadline cannot be extended.

A separate path exists if your denial was based specifically on a misdemeanor conviction punishable by two and a half years or more. You can petition the Firearm Licensing Review Board for $100 with a notarized petition and the underlying court records and police reports. This route is closed if your denial was based on suitability, or if the disqualifying conviction involved domestic violence, firearms, or drugs.⁹

Where an LTC Does Not Let You Carry

The license is not a green light everywhere. State law, federal law, and private property rules all carve out zones.

State-Prohibited Locations

The 2024 law expanded prohibited locations. You cannot carry in any building, grounds, or parking area owned or controlled by state, county, or municipal government that is used for government administration, court proceedings, or correctional services.⁸ City halls, courthouses, and jails all fall inside that boundary. Towns can vote to exclude their own administrative buildings from the ban.

Polling places and early voting sites are off-limits, as is any area within 150 feet of their entrances during voting hours. The same applies to ballot storage and tabulation sites while counting is underway.⁸

Schools remain off-limits under the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act. If you hold a license issued by the state where the school zone sits, and that state requires a background check before issuing the license, the federal prohibition does not apply to you as a licensed carrier.² A Massachusetts LTC meets that exception for school zones inside the commonwealth, but separate state-level school restrictions can still apply.

Federal Property

Federal buildings run on their own rules, and your LTC does nothing there. Carrying a firearm into a federal facility (other than a courthouse) is punishable by up to one year in prison; a courthouse carries up to two years.¹⁰ Postal property is a flat prohibition regardless of state license.¹¹ VA medical facilities carry the same ban with a $500 fine for violations.¹²

Private Property

Property owners can prohibit firearms on their premises. Posted signs are enforceable, and ignoring them can bring trespass charges and put your license at risk.

What Carrying Without a License Costs

Carrying a firearm outside your home or place of business without a valid LTC is a felony-level offense with a mandatory minimum of 18 months in jail or house of correction, up to two and a half years. Prosecuted at the state prison level, the range is two and a half to five years.¹³

The mandatory minimum is exactly that. The sentence cannot be suspended, reduced below 18 months, or converted to probation. Parole, work release, and good-conduct deductions are off the table until you have served the full 18 months.¹³ Judges have essentially no room to soften it. Few states hit a first licensing violation this hard.

Renewing Your License

A resident LTC is good for six years from the date of issue. Renew through the same local police department that issued the original, for $100. Renewals go through the MIRCS portal, by mail, or in person. You do not need to retake the safety course, but you do need to submit an affidavit regarding any lost or stolen firearms.⁶ Applicants 70 and older are exempt from the renewal fee.

Do not let the license lapse. Possessing a firearm with an expired LTC exposes you to the same mandatory minimum as carrying with no license at all. If your renewal is pending and the current license is about to expire, contact your licensing authority to confirm whether any grace period applies to you.

Non-Residents

If you do not live in Massachusetts but need to carry here, apply for a non-resident LTC through the Firearms Records Bureau, not a local police department. Applications go through the MIRCS Unified Gun Portal or by mail to the Bureau at the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services in Chelsea. The documentation matches the resident process, including a safety course certificate for first-time applicants, and the fee is $100. Non-resident licenses expire after one year.⁶

Passing Through Without a Massachusetts License

If you are traveling through Massachusetts and hold no Massachusetts LTC, the federal Peaceable Journey provision at 18 U.S.C. § 926A may protect you, on strict conditions. The firearm must be unloaded, and neither the gun nor the ammunition can be accessible from the passenger compartment. In a vehicle with no separate trunk, the firearm must go in a locked container that is not the glove compartment or center console.¹⁴ This protection only covers travel between two places where you may lawfully possess the firearm. It does not authorize stopping and carrying on your person anywhere inside the state.

What the 2024 Law Changed for License Holders

Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024 was the largest rewrite of Massachusetts firearms law in years. Beyond the expanded prohibited locations and the codified 40-day processing deadline covered above, the law added obligations that current LTC holders should know about:⁸

All firearms possessed in the commonwealth must be registered in a new real-time electronic registration system maintained by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services. Transfers must be reported within seven days.
Every firearm must carry a unique serial number permanently engraved on the frame or receiver. Possessing, manufacturing, or transferring an untraceable firearm is prohibited.
Any lost or stolen firearm must be reported through the electronic registration system within seven days.
Using a 3D printer or CNC milling machine to manufacture a firearm without a valid LTC is explicitly illegal.

1
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I, Title XX, Chapter 140, Section 131
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
3
WCVB. Massachusetts Authorities Clarify How Recent Supreme Court Decision Affects Gun Licensing Rules Here
4
Justia Law. Commonwealth v. Donnell
5
Mass.gov. Firearms Safety
6
Mass.gov. Apply for or Renew a Firearms License
7
Boston Police Department. Firearms License Application Process
8
General Court of Massachusetts. Acts of 2024 Chapter 135
9
Mass.gov. Appeal a Firearms License Denial
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
11
eCFR. 39 CFR 232.1 – Conduct on Postal Property
12
eCFR. 38 CFR 1.218 – Security and Law Enforcement at VA Facilities
13
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part IV, Title I, Chapter 269, Section 10
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms