Relax Fingerprinting Requirement for Gun Licenses in Massachusetts During Coronavirus, GOP State Legislator Says

By State House News Service | January 24, 2021, 10:55 EST

Photo by Augustas Didzgalvis, courtesy of Wikipedia

By Katie Lannan
State House News Service

A Webster Republican is again proposing a process that would allow Massachusetts residents to apply for firearms licenses during the COVID-19 pandemic without first getting fingerprinted, refiling legislation that did not gain traction at the tail end of last session.

State Representative Joe McKenna’s bill would allow local police chiefs or the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to temporarily waive the requirement that applicants for firearms identification cards and licenses to carry a firearm have their fingerprints taken for a background check, if they determine it’s unsafe or unreasonable to collect prints.

The new bill (HD 69) is identical to one McKenna filed on November 19, which died when the session ended on January 5, without ever being referred to a committee for a hearing. McKenna had said the idea “certainly garnered some interest and some discussion” among his colleagues.

He told State House News Service last month that while many communities are working with gun-license applicants to limit in-person contact and find safe ways to proceed, the bill is meant to prevent cities and towns from using the pandemic “as an excuse to deny someone their constitutional rights to obtain a license to carry.”

The Gun Owners’ Action League, which in October filed a federal lawsuit against police officials in Weymouth, Cambridge, and Stoughton on behalf of license applicants, has advised people facing barriers to gun-licensing to send their local authorities a copy of December guidance from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services and the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association.

Among other measures, the guidance suggests various fingerprinting options agencies might consider, including completing the process in garages or carports, directing applicants to fingerprint themselves, and making arrangements with surrounding agencies that have more personnel or resources.