Gun ownership

Senate passes ‘extreme risk’ gun bill

Senate passes ‘extreme risk’ gun bill

Measure approved on voice vote; nears final passage

By 0 Comments

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BOTH BRANCHES OF THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE have now signed off on bills that would create a new judicial process designed to temporarily take guns away from dangerous individuals. The bill (H 4539), which the Senate approved on a voice vote Thursday, would allow family or household members to petition the courts(...)

Read More »

Voters give green light on “red flag” gun law

Voters give green light on “red flag” gun law

Much of the credit must go to students in the state

By and , 0 Comments

Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo announced this week the House would take up the so-called “red flag” gun safety bill. The move ended months of speculation and growing pressure from outside the building. The proposed legislation would “allow a judge to temporarily seize guns from someone who might pose a danger to themselves and others.” Eight states(...)

Read More »

How the ‘red flag’ gun bill came to be

How the ‘red flag’ gun bill came to be

It started with Harvard student’s experience back in Norman, OK

By 0 Comments

House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Rep. Marjorie Decker of Cambridge hosted a rally of sorts at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School on Wednesday where they pledged to push for passage of legislation that would allow a family member, roommate, or law enforcement official to petition a court to bar someone from owning a firearm(...)

Read More »

Judge upholds assault weapons ban

Judge upholds assault weapons ban

Also says Healey's crackdown on copycat guns was legal

By 0 Comments

STATE HOUSE NEWS A federal judge ruled the state’s 1998 assault weapons ban did not violate the Second Amendment and also upheld Attorney General Maura Healey’s 2016 decision to notify gun owners that “copycat” assault weapons were also subject to the ban. In his  47-page order, US District Court Judge William Young said the AR-15 “and its(...)

Read More »

House bans ‘bump stock’ devices

House bans ‘bump stock’ devices

Anything that could increase discharge rate of firearms barred

By 1 Comment

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE LAWMAKERS on Wednesday moved rapidly, and some critics said rashly, to ban any device that could be used to increase the rate of discharge of a firearm. The bill’s passage came 10 days after a shooter in Las Vegas is believed to have used a “bump stock” device to rain(...)

Read More »

Mass. mayors back AG on assault weapons

Mass. mayors back AG on assault weapons

Officials are part of Healey's effort to win support for her actions

By and , , , 4 Comments

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY faced a barrage of criticism in the weeks following her announcement of stepped up enforcement of the state’s assault weapons ban, but the state’s top prosecutor and her allies have spent the better part of the past week trying to change the narrative by highlighting support for(...)

Read More »

Last-minute bid to derail Healey gun rules

Last-minute bid to derail Healey gun rules

GOP leader files legislation with two days left in session

By 0 Comments

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY would be stripped of her authority to regulate firearms under a bill filed Friday afternoon by the state Senate minority leader. Sen. Bruce Tarr of Gloucester filed his “act to protect due process and strengthen public safety” 12 days after Healey announced her office would step up(...)

Read More »

5 AGs back Healey on gun directive

Opinion

5 AGs back Healey on gun directive

‘She is not exceeding her authority – she is exercising it’

By , , , and 8 Comments

LAST WEEK, Attorney General Maura Healey issued an Enforcement Notice to provide certainty to Massachusetts gun dealers, gun manufacturers, and residents on how her office will enforce our state’s 18-year-old assault weapons ban and, specifically, to clarify which assault weapons are prohibited as “copies or duplicates” under the law. Since then, certain people have claimed that the Attorney General, in taking this(...)

Read More »

Downing backs Healey’s gun notice

Downing backs Healey’s gun notice

Pittsfield senator says AG in line with law's intent

By , 1 Comment

What follows is a statement Sen. Ben Downing of Pittsfield posted on his office website. Many of my constituents have asked about my position on Attorney General Healey’s recent “Enforcement Notice” on the Massachusetts Assault Weapons Ban. In the time since the Attorney General made the announcement, I have researched the statute under which the(...)

Read More »

Naughton slams Healey on gun rule

Naughton slams Healey on gun rule

'This is a misuse and overstepping of authority'

By 1 Comment

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE The House’s point person on public safety issues is questioning Attorney General Maura Healey’s recent action to crack down on the sale of copycat assault weapons in Massachusetts. Rep. Harold Naughton, the House chair of the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security and a major in the US Army Reserve, is(...)

Read More »

1 2