The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security recently issued a joint advisory to provide guidance to municipal firearms licensing authorities on compliance with the holding in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, where the Supreme Court of United States invalidated portions of New York’s licensing statute.
In Bruen, the Supreme Court held that New York’s “proper cause” requirement violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution because it prevents “law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.” The statute at issue required that anyone who desired to carry a concealed firearm must show they have “proper cause” to do so.
In Massachusetts, under M.G.L. c. 140, Sec. 131, the licensing authority – usually the local police chief – may deny a concealed carry applicant if the applicant is (i) a “prohibited person” (based upon a criminal record, age, incapacity, or other specified reasons), or (ii) deemed “unsuitable” by the chief because they pose a public safety risk. If the police chief determines that the applicant is not a prohibited person and is not unsuitable, but further determines that the applicant lacks “good reason to fear injury to the applicant or the applicant’s property” then they may impose limitations on the applicant’s ability to carry a firearm in public. The Massachusetts “good reason” provision is analogous to New York’s now-invalidated “proper cause” provision, indicating that police chiefs should reevaluate their approach when assessing applicants.
The joint advisory provides that while the Bruen decision does not affect a police chief’s ability to deny applicants who are deemed “prohibited persons” or characterized as “unsuitable,” it requires that police chiefs cease enforcement of the “good reason” provision. Moving forward, a police chief may lawfully inquire about an applicant’s reasons for seeking a license and may use these reasons when identifying whether the applicant constitutes a “prohibited person” or should be characterized as “unsuitable”, but the police chief may not use an applicant’s reasons to deny or restrict a license for the applicant’s failure to provide a “good reason” to carry a firearm, according to the advisory.
Please contact our Public Law Group with any specific questions on the Bruen decision and license applications.
