Author: Recently someone who had taken my class had followed my advice about how to handle a town that only wanted to give a restricted license to the law abiding citizens that pay their salary’s, the particular town he lives in is Wareham, there are other towns that also disrespect the residents in this manner. You may want to read the following letter he sent me, with his permission, I have put it on my website.
Comment: Mark, I have been meaning to contact you and thank you for your help but I wanted to wait until I had good news yesterday I picked up my class A license at the Wareham PD; a full five months after my interview, and almost seven months after I applied.
The interview went well and in fact it went down just as you suggested it would. I was told that they would probably start me off with just an FID I politely said, not interested; if you want to reject my application do so in writing and I will appeal.
I was then told that we’re winning all the appeals. I replied, you would not win this one. I am a picture of stability. I’ve been in the same job for forty years, the same address for 30 years, I pay all my taxes & bills, I owe nobody anything, I’ve never been in trouble or arrested, and I’m not going to be the only one in this town without a gun. If I don’t qualify then nobody here does and you’ll have to defend virtually every permit you have given out to justify excluding me.
The officer then said well we don’t give you a license to drive without a permit why would we give you a permit to carry a handgun when you have no experience? I said well, I don’t have a right to drive, but I do have a constitutional right to have a weapon and since you brought it up, I’ve had a drivers license for 43 years, driven over one million miles, and not had an accident.
At the end I said; Look,I don’t own any property that I can’t just replace. I don’t own anything that’s worth hurting anyone or getting in trouble over but I do have a wife and two daughters in a neighborhood that is becoming increasingly dangerous, and the police alone cannot guarantee their safety. The officers response, perfect.
So again, thanks a lot for your help Mark, particularly with preparing me for that interview. Tom M.
Thomas, Wareham Ma. 9-15-2013
Posted in Gun Sense