TAKING WEAPONS SERIOUSLY:

[H]e couldn't do that in Massachusetts because the state requires would-be buyers to get a permit first. That means going through a much longer process and undergoing a lot more scrutiny.

Each applicant must complete a four-hour gun safety course, get character references from two people, and show up at the local police department for fingerprinting and a one-on-one interview with a specially designated officer. Police must also do some work on their own, searching department records for information that wouldn't show up on the official background check. 

If the police come to believe an applicant is a possible threat to public safety, they can refuse to grant the permit. [...]

No other state requires a permit for any kind of gun purchase while also giving police some discretion to deny those permits. 

The combination could help explain why the state's mortality rate from firearms incidents is relatively low, according to some experts who have studied these types of laws. That makes the Massachusetts permit system a potential model for legislation in other states, or even the country as a whole, at a time when the massacre at a high school in Parkland, Florida, has put gun violence back on the political agenda.

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