In the closing months of 2012, applications for gun permits in Harvard appear to be on the rise, according to Police Chief Edward Denmark. It’s an observation shared by other members of the department, who are responsible for fingerprinting and initiating background checks for new applicants.
Despite this observed increase, gun ownership in Harvard remains well below the average for Massachusetts. A total of 237 Harvard residents, or about 4 percent of the town’s population, currently have gun permits. Statewide, the average is 12.6 percent. And nationally, Massachusetts ranks next to last in both gun ownership and, more significantly, gun deaths.Hawaii is the lowest in both categories.
Harvard’s increase in gun ownership parallels a national trend. Gun permit applications often rise sharply after a mass shooting, as do gun sales. The FBI received 2.78 million requests for background checks in December 2012, a new national record and an increase of 49 percent over December 2011, Reuters News reported. (The federal government tracks only the number of background checks requested; it is barred by law from keeping records on the number of guns sold or the number of gun deaths.)
Denmark explained that people may be applying for gun permits now in case Massachusetts enacts new laws that are more restrictive. On Jan. 3, Representative David Linsky of Natick convened a meeting to discuss state gun control laws; it was attended by more than 150 legislators and staffers, including Harvard’s representative, Jamie Eldridge. Linsky has said he expects to present a draft of new legislation on the topic by January 18, the date when proposed bills for the coming session are due.
Denmark said it currently takes six to eight weeks for the entire licensing process. As a first step, an applicant takes a state-approved firearms safety course to receive a firearms safety certificate. Next, the person completes an application, including information on past criminal convictions, mental illness, or drug addiction, as well as citizenship and names of personal references. Finally, the applicant turns in the form, along with a $100 application fee, to the local police department. The police take the person’s fingerprints and begin a background check through the FBI.
In Massachusetts, a gun license is valid for six years. State law establishes several classes of licenses, each of which covers a different range of weapons. (see sidebar.) But permits do not identify the type or number of weapons that the applicant owns or plans to purchase.
A person with a valid gun permit may purchase as many weapons as he or she wishes, Denmark said. So when Harvard Police are called to a household where someone has a permit, Denmark says the officers always assume there are two or more guns in the house.
When a gun is not under the direct control of the license holder, state law requires that it be stored in a locked container or have a trigger lock. (But, the gun need not be unloaded while it is stored, according to the Gun Owner’s Action League of Northborough, Mass.)
Massachusetts does not allow civilians to carry firearms (handguns) openly. As for transporting guns in a vehicle, regulations vary with the type of license that the gun owner holds.
In 2004, as the federal ban on assault weapons was about to expire, Massachusetts enacted its own ban covering the same limited range of semi-automatic weapons. Current state law prohibits any magazine that holds more than ten rounds of ammunition (unless it was manufactured before 1994, when the federal ban was enacted).
Asked if the Harvard Police offered training programs for residents who own guns, Chief Denmark said the department did not have a formal program. But he said he would be happy to set up a refresher course on safe storage and proper handling if residents requested it.
With three young sons of his own, Denmark says he made the decision to store all his weapons at the station, except for the one he carries to and from work each day. Because his sons’ friends know about his job, he said, “One of them could say, ‘Hey, your dad is a cop. Can we see his gun?'” He concluded it was better to remove that temptation.
Even as gun sales and requests for permits rise, the share of households with guns has been declining. Nationwide in 1977, 54 percent of households had guns. By 2010, that figure had dropped to 32 percent.
