Recalling the Spice Girls hit “Wannabe,” firearm instructors are stuck repeating “Tell me what you want, what you really, really want.”
Thursday, March 26, just one week before the new training requirements kick in, the Massachusetts State Police sent out an update to the training. Guess what? They still do not have anything concrete. The new curriculum starts on April 2, 2026, and MSP has left instructors in a quagmire.
In their message, they said that instructors do not have to submit previously accepted courses. Only new courses will be accepted. It is not clear if they will accept the National Rifle Association’s Basics of Pistol Shooting with an addendum of the state-provided suicide prevention and “use of force” guidelines. (Originally, the MSP said instructors need to provide an undefined “disengagement training.”) MSP also did not say if the NRA Home Firearm Safety with live fire and addendum sections would be acceptable.
Here is what they said:
Student Certificates:
- For new LTC Applicants: Any student who completed a safety training course prior to April 2 may submit their certificate with their application at any time. These certificates will not be denied. However, upon renewal, applicants will be required to complete a supplemental online training developed and provided by the department in order to satisfy the new BFS course training requirements (i.e., disengagement and conflict avoidance tactics, suicide prevention, and use of force laws).
- Students who complete a newly approved course must receive the updated certificate, which will not be available until April 14. Please see the next section for additional details.
New Instructor Portal:
- The new instructor portal will go live on April 14. Please note that there will be a two-week period during which instructors will not be able to issue certificates. Once the portal is live, instructors will be able to enter class rosters and generate certificates.
- Step-by-step directions for using the portal will be provided, including how to create rosters, generate student certificates, and how students can access their certificates.
For 12 days, from April 2 to 14, people can take classes but not get certificates or be able to apply for a license to carry. Truly, a right denied.
This is a cluster fudge. The Commonwealth knew this was happening. They had 17 months to get their act together, and here we are. One week before the new requirements are law in the Bay State, and the MSP are still pussyfooting around. No word on which classes that are currently on the list will be accepted. No word on the live-fire portion. But they still need time to get organized.
This is pathetic.
People who take the course after April 2 will have to create an account to log in to it so they can print their certificates. As an instructor, I do not mind printing certificates on cardstock for clients. But it does feel strange, very much like the government will have quicker and easier access to who takes the course and gets a license to carry.
The Commonwealth already keeps track of the firearms we own. They already keep track of who takes classes. But does it need to be easier for them to access? This is ripe for an eventual slip-up where they accidentally publish the names and addresses of people who have licenses. The doxxing of firearm permit holders happened in New York after Newtown and in California in 2022. In January of 2023, Massachusetts accidentally published a list of serial numbers of firearms people owned, and each person was given a number instead of their name.
As we have 29 permitless carry states and two states that are flirting with going permitless, the Bay State is making it harder and more expensive for the firearm instructors and the citizens to obtain a license or even own a firearm. Meanwhile, Governor Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are more concerned about stopping Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and suing the Trump Administration. Somehow, these policies are supposed to make us safer.
