As usual, gun-grabbing Democrats are taking aim at the wrong target. Instead of addressing crime, Massachusetts Democrats in the state House of Representatives just approved an overreaching gun bill that would severely undermine lawful gun owners’ ability to carry weapons and defend themselves. A coalition of state police chiefs and others emphatically condemned the bill.
The Epoch Times reported on Oct. 23 that the anti-Second Amendment legislation passed the Massachusetts House in a 120-38 vote on Oct. 18. Under the bill, citizens would not be allowed to carry firearms into others’ homes without consent and major gun components would have to have serial numbers registered with the state. The bill also expands Massachusetts’ “red flag” law for permitting judges to suspend a person’s firearms license if he’s considered a risk for “harming others.” In the current political climate, when peaceful pro-lifers, concerned parents, MAGA, and traditional Catholics are considered threats or “domestic terrorists,” that could get subjective really fast.
In fact, as the Gun Owners’ Action League and state Rep. Peter Durant (R-6th Worcester district) noted, the bill will not stop crime; it will merely target law-abiding citizens trying to protect themselves. “All of it goes against us, the lawful people,” said the League’s executive director Jim Wallace. “There’s nothing in there that goes after the criminals.” State Rep. David Muradian (R-9th Worcester district) said that he had interacted with hundreds “if not thousands” of his constituents regarding the new gun restrictions, and the general question was, “What is the new proposal trying to solve?” What indeed, if it is only an “egregious infringement on all lawful gun owners,” as Muradian said, without actually addressing the issue of crime at all?
The Massachusetts legislation bans firing guns “at or near homes,” Epoch Times explained. Would this criminalize at-home self-defense or only target target practice on one’s own private property? Citizens would also be barred from carrying firearms while being intoxicated. Most concerning of all, it “would also prohibit carrying firearms in schools, polling places, and government buildings.” As we’ve seen with too many tragedies, schools are exactly the places where there should be responsible armed protection for children!
Massachusetts Democrats are reacting to a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming that Americans have a right under the Second Amendment to carry firearms publicly for self-defense, Epoch Times stated. “The Supreme Court’s Bruen decision nullified existing components of our gun laws, threatening the safety of the Commonwealth’s residents,” babbled Democrat state House Speaker Ronald Mariano (D-3rd Norfolk district), asserting the legislation will keep Massachusetts safe. The bill’s author, state Rep. Michael Day (D-31st Middlesex district), framed firearms as a “public health crisis.”
What the Democrats are ignoring is strong evidence that gun control doesn’t keep people safe (look at Chicago, with its tight gun control and epidemic of gun violence). Between 1950 and May 2022, 94% of mass public shootings occurred in gun-free zones. As of 2020, a Secret Service report found that 42% of mass shootings involved illegally owned guns. Legislation like this out of the Massachusetts House only makes law-abiding citizens less capable of defending themselves from criminals.
Epoch Times:
The bill expands the state’s ban on certain types of rifles, prohibiting new purchases of AR-15-style firearms. It would also ban someone from turning a legal firearm into an automatic weapon.
The proposal includes an enhanced system to track firearms used in crimes to help curb the flow of illegal guns into the state. It would also modernize the existing firearm registration system while increasing the availability of firearm data for academic and policy use, lawmakers said.
A coalition of Massachusetts police chiefs insisted in a statement that only lawful gun owners would be impacted by the overreaching bill, Epoch Times noted. The outlet also quoted Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association director Mark Leahy, who expressed disappointment in the state House’s vote to approve the gun-grabbing legislation. “As we’ve said, the answer lies in the vigorous prosecution of criminals, who have no regard for gun laws, whether old or new. We look forward to addressing this matter with our Senate,” Leahy added. The Senate and House still have to create a single bill and send it to the Democrat governor. Democrats lead both chambers of the Massachusetts legislature.
Democrats consistently and always go after the victims or potential victims while ignoring or actively supporting the victimizer. That’s why they push soft-on-crime policies that allow countless repeat offenses from violent criminals and even from murderers. The new Massachusetts legislation won’t make the state safer for citizens if passed; rather, it will make citizens more vulnerable to criminal violence.
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