Joint Release from Comm2A and GOAL
August 6, 2025

Comm2A and GOAL Help Bring Licensing Delay to MA High Court after District Court Judge
rules license processing timeline mandates have no teeth.

Baas-Thomas v. City of Boston
Westborough, MA – Attorney Jason Guida, with the full support of Comm2A and GOAL, filed a
writ of certiorari to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court last week appealing the decision
of Baas-Thomas v. City of Boston. A direct appeal to a licensing delay case that targets the
Commonwealth’s self-imposed licensing deadlines. 

In January of 2025, Max Baas-Thomas (“Max”) applied for his License to Carry (“LTC”) in the City
of Boston in and was told in no uncertain terms, that he would have to wait at least 6 to 7
months for his license to be issued as the Boston Police Department had a tremendous backlog
and were still processing applications from the fall of 2024. Per Massachusetts General Law,
licensing authorities (local police departments) have 7 days after receiving applications to
submit fingerprints along with a copy of the application to the Colonel of the State Police. Once
this has been completed, the licensing authority then has 40 days to either approve or deny the
application and must notify the applicant of the reason, in writing, if they are denied.
Once the 40 days were up and Max had not received his LTC, Max filed suit with South Boston
District Court. At the hearing, the licensing officer for the City of Boston testified that the 40-
day deadline required by law was “unrealistic” and that the Boston Police Department cannot
process LTC applications within the statutory timelines. The Court, in ruling for the Boston
Police Department, ignored the obvious 2nd Amendment violation and found that the inability of
the police department to follow the law was reasonable because they are working “as quickly
as possible with the resources they have”. The Court also determined that there are no
consequences listed in the statute for a licensing authority that fails to process an application in
40 days and, therefore, the police are free to violate the law with impunity.

The Court’s action in this case justifies everything Comm2A & GOAL have said about the licensing
system being abusive and arbitrary. Such extensive delays, regardless of the reason, should be
looked at as a failure of a system that was set up to deny citizens of the Commonwealth their civil
rights. 

“This is just one example of a long list of instances where the state chooses to ignore the laws,
they wrote claiming it is inconvenient and/or not practical,” said Jim Wallace Executive Director
of GOAL. “Hundreds of thousands of citizens in the Commonwealth’s Second Amendment
community struggle on a daily basis in a grueling attempt to understand and comply with the
law. But when it comes to the very government that imposes these abhorrent laws, it can
decide what, when, and how they choose to comply, and only if they feel like it.”

“Comm2A has hundreds of reports of delays that far exceed what the law allows for, not by a
few days, but by weeks or months.  Some communities are already pushing people into the
summer of 2026 for appointments.  This needs to stop” said Chris Martel, President of
Comm2A.  “There are no excuses for these unconscionable delays.  We urge licensing
authorities across the Commonwealth to comply with the law, just as those seeking firearms
permits must.  Litigation will be costly, choose compliance.”

“A constitutional challenge to unreasonable licensing delays is long overdue,” said Attorney
Guida. “A right delayed is a right denied”.