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Massachusetts Concealed Carry Permit

Massachusetts requires a License to Carry Firearms (LTC) to carry. It is shall-issue, the minimum age is 21, and training is required.

Requirements at a glance

Permit name License to Carry Firearms (LTC)
Issuing authority For residents: the local licensing authority — the chief of police (or board) of the city/town where the applicant resides. For non-residents: the Firearms Records Bureau, Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS), acting as designee of the Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police.
System shall-issue
Minimum age 21 — M.G.L. c.140 §131(d) as amended limits LTC applications to "a lawful resident 21 years of age or older residing within the jurisdiction of the licensing authority" (plus law enforcement employed by that authority and persons in areas of exclusive federal jurisdiction within a city/town). There is no under-21 LTC. A Firearm Identification (FID) card under §129B is a separate, non-carry credential available to younger applicants and does not authorize carrying a handgun.
Training required Yes, live fire required
State fee $100 initial / $100 renewal — the state's own charge, not the total
Valid for 6 years
Processing time Statutory maximum 40 days. M.G.L. c.140 §121F(a): the licensing authority must, within 40 days of receipt of a completed application (including renewals) under §§122, 122B, 122D, 129B, 131 or 131F, either approve and issue or deny and notify the applicant in writing of the reason. Within 7 days of receiving the completed application the licensing authority forwards a copy plus the applicant's fingerprints to the Colonel of State Police, who has 30 days to report back (§121F(c)-(d)).
Fingerprints Required
Non-resident permit Available

What it actually costs

The state fee is rarely the whole bill. Fingerprinting is usually charged by a private vendor, training is bought from an instructor, and several states add photographs, notarisation or other requirements on top.

State fee $100
Fingerprinting $15–$45 — our estimate; no vendor publishes a rate
Training course $75–$250 (private instructor)
Realistic total $190–$395 — includes an estimated component

M.G.L. c.140 §121F itemises the $100 precisely — $25 to the licensing authority, $50 to the General Fund and $25 to the Firearms Fingerprint Identity Verification Trust Fund — and then §131 lets the local authority charge for taking the prints anyway, which is the gap. The term is the quiet advantage: a resident licence runs up to six years, behind only Florida's seven, so the annual cost is lower than the fee suggests. A non-resident licence costs the same $100 and expires in one year. The Basic Firearms Safety course has no statutory hour count and is not repeated at renewal.

M.G.L. c.140 §121F sets the fee for any firearm license, card or permit at $100 ($25 retained by the licensing authority, $50 to the General Fund, $25 to the Firearms Fingerprint Identity Verification Trust Fund). Mass.gov fee schedule: License to Carry Firearms $100; LTC for retired law enforcement officers $25; FID card $100 ($25 if under 18); Non-Resident Firearms License $100. Resident LTCs are valid for up to 6 years and expire on the anniversary of the licensee's date of birth occurring not less than 5 nor more than 6 years from issue (M.G.L. c.140 §131(e)); a license issued to someone born Feb 29 expires March 1. Non-resident licenses expire 1 year from date of issue with no grace period. Local licensing authorities may charge separately for fingerprinting or require additional documentation.

How to apply

  1. Complete a Massachusetts-approved Basic Firearms Safety (BFS) course for an LTC, taught by a State Police-certified instructor. For courses on or after April 2, 2026 this must include live-fire training and a 25-question written exam. Obtain the BFS course completion certificate marked 'Valid for LTC'. Find certified instructors and approved courses at https://www.mass.gov/info-details/firearms-safety-instructors-certification-program
  2. Residents: apply to the police department of the city or town where you live (your local licensing authority). Non-residents: apply to the DCJIS Firearms Records Bureau, 200 Arlington Street, Suite 2200, Chelsea, MA 02150.
  3. Apply online through the MIRCS Unified Gun Portal (https://gunportal.mass.gov/mircsUnifiedPortal/), or submit by mail or in person. If applying online, contact your licensing authority to arrange payment.
  4. Submit the complete package: the Resident Firearms License Application (or Non-Resident License to Carry Firearms Application), the $100 fee, the BFS certificate (new applications only), photo identification, proof of residence if requested, an affidavit of lost/stolen firearms (all renewals), and any additional documentation your local licensing authority requires.
  5. Be fingerprinted. The licensing authority forwards the application and fingerprints to the Colonel of State Police within 7 days (M.G.L. c.140 §121F(c)); fingerprints may be waived on renewal if already on file with the State Police.
  6. Sit for the in-person interview with the licensing authority, which M.G.L. c.140 §131(d) requires on every initial LTC application. Non-resident applicants may be scheduled for an in-person appointment at the Firearms Records Bureau.
  7. Await processing: state and federal criminal background checks, a fingerprint-based check, and a Department of Mental Health check. The licensing authority must approve or deny within 40 days of a completed application (§121F(a)).
  8. Residents pick up the license from the local licensing authority when notified; non-resident licenses are mailed. Check status in the MIRCS portal, or call (617) 660-4722 (residents) / (617) 660-4782 (non-residents).
  9. If denied, you may appeal — see https://www.mass.gov/how-to/appeal-a-firearms-license-denial

Apply on the official Massachusetts site

What disqualifies you

Where to get the required training

Massachusetts publishes an official list of certified instructors. That list is authoritative — a certificate from an instructor who is not on it may not be accepted. View the official instructor list

Training providers in Massachusetts

Businesses in our directory that offer firearms training. These are not state-verified as certified permit instructors — check against the official list above, or ask the provider directly.

All firearms training in Massachusetts →

Reciprocity

Carrying into Massachusetts

Massachusetts recognizes no out-of-state carry permits. A permit from another state does not authorize you to carry here.

25 jurisdictions honor a Massachusetts permit

Derived from what each of those states officially publishes.

Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin

Official Massachusetts reciprocity page Full reciprocity matrix →

Building your own in Massachusetts

Build for personal use
Allowed
Serial number required
Yes

Building a firearm for personal use is legal in Massachusetts ONLY if it is serialized and registered in advance/immediately, and the maker is properly licensed to possess that firearm (LTC for a handgun). M.G.L. c.140 §121C(c): "No person shall manufacture or assemble a privately made firearm without: (i) obtaining a unique serial number from the department of criminal justice information services PRIOR to manufacture or assembly; (ii) serializing the firearm with the obtained serial number DURING manufacture or assembly; and (iii) registering the firearm with the department of criminal justice information services in accordance with section 121B within 7 days of the firearm's manufacture or assembly." §121C(b) separately bans knowingly possessing, manufacturing, assembling, purchasing, selling, transferring or importing an untraceable firearm; new residents and estate heirs get 60 days to serialize, licensed dealers/gunsmiths/distributors/manufacturers 7 days. §121C(a) sets physical marking specs: conspicuously engraved, cast or permanently embedded on the frame or receiver, at least .003 inches deep and 1/16 inch print size, not readily obliterated; non-metallic firearms require a permanently embedded metal plate. §121C(d) requires privately made firearms to comply with applicable state and federal safety regulations. Serial numbers are requested and firearms registered through the DCJIS MIRCS Unified Gun Portal (https://gunportal.mass.gov/mircsUnifiedPortal/). The DCJIS FAQ confirms: "Massachusetts law requires all residents who manufacture a firearm... to register the firearm at the time of import, acquisition, manufacture, or assembly via the MIRCS Unified Gun Portal." §121C(g) exempts firearms being surrendered for destruction, in common-carrier transport, in transit with a non-resident owner, government property, federally licensed manufacturer production, and firearms made before October 22, 1968. So: home-built firearms are NOT prohibited outright, but an unserialized/unregistered self-made ('ghost') gun is illegal, and Massachusetts's assault-weapons and large-capacity-feeding-device restrictions still limit what may lawfully be built.

M.G.L. c.140 §121C (serialization; untraceable firearms; privately made firearms); M.G.L. c.140 §121B (registration); 501 CMR 20.00 (Serialization of firearms); 501 CMR 19.00 (Registration of firearms)

Federal law, gunsmithing schools, and tools →

Statutes

What we could not confirm

  • permitSystem classification is a judgment call. M.G.L. c.140 §131(d) says the licensing authority 'shall issue' unless the applicant is a prohibited person or is determined unsuitable — textually shall-issue. But §121F(k) preserves a discretionary 'unsuitability' denial based on 'reliable, articulable and credible information' of risk, plus a mandatory personal interview. Some observers still describe Massachusetts as effectively may-issue. I recorded 'shall-issue' on the statutory text and flag the residual discretion.
  • No minimum training HOURS exist in statute or regulation, so training.hours is intentionally empty rather than a guess. Course length is set by the individual approved course/instructor.
  • Live-fire: the MSP Firearms Compliance Unit's Feb 24, 2026 letter makes live-fire training a mandatory BFS component for courses conducted on or after April 2, 2026, but states that 'regulations relative to the content of live-firing training have not been finalized.' The mass.gov page for 515 CMR 3.00 still shows a revision date of 12/16/2016, so I could not confirm live-fire content regulations have since been promulgated. The requirement itself is in effect; its detailed specification may still be pending.
  • M.G.L. c.140 §131F's text conditions the non-resident temporary LTC on the applicant being a nonresident/citizen/LPR 'for purposes of firearms competition,' yet DCJIS describes and issues non-resident LTCs generally on mass.gov. I found no official page reconciling that residual 'firearms competition' language with post-Bruen practice.
  • Massachusetts publishes no reciprocity list because it recognizes no out-of-state permits, so reciprocity.honors is genuinely empty. I verified this from the DCJIS FAQ; there is no separate state reciprocity page to cite.
  • §121C does not itself state a criminal penalty for a serialization/registration violation; the applicable penalty provisions sit elsewhere in c.269 and I did not locate and verify the specific section, so I did not state a penalty for unserialized home manufacture.
  • Local licensing authorities may impose additional documentation requirements and may charge separately for fingerprinting or notarization; mass.gov says 'additional documentation as required by your local licensing authority' without itemizing, so real-world total cost may exceed $100.
  • 515 CMR 3.03 (2016) still defines LTC as including 'both Class A and Class B licenses,' while §131 as amended by Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024 no longer distinguishes classes. I could not confirm from an official page whether Class B LTCs still exist as a live category.
  • The list of approved BFS instructors is published as dated PDFs (most recent found: 07.03.2026) rather than at a stable permanent URL; instructorRegistryUrl points to the parent State Police program page because the PDF URL changes at each update.
  • My WebSearch quota was exhausted before this task began, so I located official pages by enumerating the full mass.gov XML sitemap (119 pages, ~356k URLs) and fetching malegislature.gov directly rather than by search. Every fact above comes from mass.gov, malegislature.gov, or a Massachusetts State Police document; no aggregator was used. It remains possible an official page I did not enumerate contains a more recent update (e.g., newly promulgated live-fire regulations).

Sources