Town imposes essay-writing for gun permit

TOWN IMPOSES ESSAY-WRITING FOR GUN PERMIT

Critics rally: 'It is absurd ... this is way over the top'

Published: 7 hours ago

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Residents of Lowell, Massachusetts, face a new requirement for obtaining unrestricted right-to-carry gun permits – submitting a written essay to the chief of police that explains just why they want that particular right.

And applicants must receive a passing grade in order to receive the go-ahead on the permit.

But as Fox News pointed: Critics say the requirement is arbitrary, at best; downright unconstitutional, at worst.

Lowell Police Chief William Taylor actually brought the essay idea to the city council, where it was ultimately approved. Taylor will be the one to decide if the applicant’s essay justifies his or her right to carry, Inquisitr reported.

Residents of Lowell are also required to pay up to $1,100 for firearms training in order to obtain their permits.

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“I will never write an essay to get my rights as an American citizen,” said one angry Lowell resident, Dan Gannon, Inquistr reported.

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And Jim Wallace with the Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts released this statement: “It is absurd that people should have to write an essay to the town to explain why they should be able to exercise their constitutional rights. We already have a very strict set of gun laws in the state, but this is way over the top. It’s like having a college professor say, ‘I’m going to read your essay and if I don’t like it, I’m going to give it back to you.'”

Lowell Police Captain Timothy Crowley said otherwise.

“If you want a license to carry a firearm unrestricted wherever you want and whenever you want, the superintendent is just looking for some documentation as to why,” he said, Inquisitr reported. “That is not unreasonable to most people.”

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The news site reported the criteria for judging the essay is not yet known.

City Manager Kevin Murphy said it was simply a way to give Taylor “more time” to judge each concealed carry application.

“We’re no longer taking a cookie-cutter approach to issuing firearms licenses,” he said, in the Lowell Sun.