Massachusetts Congressional delegation, 19 mayors support AG Maura Healey's assault weapons ban

[SecularMotion]

Source: MassLive

Massachusetts' entire congressional delegation and 19 Massachusetts mayors have come out in support of Attorney General Maura Healey's interpretation of the state's assault weapons ban.

"This is a common sense step to not create a new law but enforce a law that's been on the books for many years to make sure we don't have military style assault weapons in the hands of people in our streets and in our communities," said Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse.

The campaign of public support for Healey, a Democrat, comes after gun owners protested her interpretation, and as a national gun rights group said it is planning to file a lawsuit against Healey. In the face of criticism, Healey has said she will enforce the ban.

Since the federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004, Massachusetts has relied on state law to ban the sale of assault weapons and copies or duplicates of assault weapons. Responding to a spate of mass shootings nationally, Healey, a Democrat, announced on July 20 that she would expand the definition of a "copy" to include guns with operating systems that are the same as in banned weapons or that have components that are interchangeable with those in banned weapons.

Read more: http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/08/congressional_delegation_19_ma.html

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Full title would not fit - Massachusetts Congressional delegation, 19 mayors support AG Maura Healey's assault weapons ban directive

[MichiganVote]

1. K&R

[onehandle]

2. Gun nuts are the enemy of towns, boroughs, districts, counties, and states right to protect people.

[yallerdawg]

3. Common sense gun reform!

If you can't buy an assault weapon, damn sure hard to shoot someone's with it!

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Maura Healy is doing a fine job

It's a shame the humpers treat her with such venom.

She will be a formidable gubernatorial candidate at some point.

[sheshe2]

5. 100% agree with you!

[sheshe2]

6. Maybe the death threats will ease up a bit now.

Though I doubt it. She has been vilified by the gun nuts.

Thanks for posting the news, SecularMotion.

[Recursion]

7. It's an interesting take and I wish MA luck, but I think it's still a fundamentally broken law

Anything that's not a ban on semi-automatics is going to have work-arounds the gun industry will find.

[NickB79]

8. She's on pretty shaky legal ground, IMO

Healey, a Democrat, announced on July 20 that she would expand the definition of a "copy" to include guns with operating systems that are the same as in banned weapons or that have components that are interchangeable with those in banned weapons.

That interpretation would mean that the MA assault weapons ban would extend to clearly non-applicable guns such at this bolt action hunting rifle, because it uses a component (the magazine) that is interchangeable with a banned weapon (the AR-15):

Or to common, 50-yr old deer hunting guns such as this that use a gas-operated action like that used in an AR-15 or AK clone:

[friendly_iconoclast]

9. UPDATE: Three years later, she folded. You were correct

https://www.nssf.org/nssf-welcomes-massachusetts-ags-enforcement-notice-clarification

December 11, 2019

NSSF Welcomes Massachusetts AG’s ‘Enforcement Notice’ Clarification

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association, accepts Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s agreement to clarify the Enforcement Notice that included “’Copies’ or ‘Duplicates’ of the Enumerated Weapons.” The Attorney General’s agreement to clarify this notice effectively ends the legal challenge by NSSF, Pullman Arms of Worcester, Mass., along with three other Massachusetts firearms retailers.

“We are pleased this matter has come to a successful resolution,” said Lawrence G. Keane, Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs and General Counsel for NSSF. “We sought clarification to the Enforcement Notice to allow firearms retailers to know exactly what the law stated and ensure they were operating within the confines of that law. For two and a half years, these business owners were left in the dark and today, they finally have the clear answers they sought.”

In 2016 Attorney General Healey charged that firearms retailers were violating the intent of a state law against so-called “assault weapons” by making small tweaks to certain firearms and issued the Enforcement Notice. The Notice warned retailers those so-called “copies” or “duplicates” of the firearms specifically listed in the state law were illegal for sale.

NSSF and the stores had to file the case to challenge the Notice because it was too vague to apply. The complaint identified the difficulties in applying the Notice to listed firearms after the Attorney General’s office ignored multiple requests to clarify the Notice as to those firearms. The Office did not take steps to clarify the notice for two and a half years, and only recently notified the Plaintiffs that the listed firearms are not illegal “assault weapons.” The Office agreed to amend the Notice after NSSF prevailed against multiple motions designed to dismiss or stall the case. Because the Notice has been clarified, the goals for the case have been achieved, and there is nothing else to fight about in this action.