In a move that shocked many in the room, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey began the ceremony by hailing this bill as “…an important victory against crime.” The Lieutenant Governor went on to say, “The most important job of state government is ensuring public safety. Governor Romney and I are determined to do whatever it takes to stop the flood of dangerous weapons into our cities and towns and to make Massachusetts safer for law-abiding citizens.”
After the Lieutenant Governor’s shocking and insulting comments, she then gave John Rosenthal, of Stop Handgun Violence, an opportunity to address the press corps. Of course, Mr. Rosenthal took the opportunity to put his spin on the bill as “gun safety legislation.” During his remarks he stated. “We’re not taking guns away from anyone except assault weapons and cheaply made Saturday Night Specials.” Romney officials also gave Mr. Rosenthal an entire paragraph in their official press release, while GOAL was not even mentioned.
After the “stage” had been set, Senator Stephen Brewer and Representative George Peterson were allowed to say a few words. These longtime friends of gun owners spoke on the importance of the reforms the bill made. “This change will go a long way toward fixing the flaws created by the 1998 law,” said Representative George Peterson.
Governor Romney then took the podium to make a few remarks before signing the bill. Although the Governor did make mention of being a “sportsman” and the reforms in the bill that would help other sportsmen, he spun the bill as a ban.
“Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts ,” Romney said. “These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.”
www.goal.org/Alerts/reformbillsigned.html
The GOP needs to know who they'll lose if they hand leadership to a politician like that.