Replies

Speaking of credibility, a few facts to add about this NRA-supported bill that Romney signed, that show that the bill he signed was *not* an assault weapons ban (Mass. had that since 1998), but a package of reforms relating to it, that were helpful to gun owners and their rights ...

http://www.nraila.org//Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=1149
“Representing the greatest set of firearm law reforms since the passage of the Commonwealth`s worst in the nation gun laws, S.2367 is a breath of fresh air for law abiding gun owners. Governor Romney is expected to sign the bill into law later this week.

While not perfect by any means, this bill represents a step forward for gun owners in Massachusetts. “

Opponents of gun control and critics of Governor Romney point to the fact that he signed firearms legislation in July, 2004 that included a ban of assault weapons in Massachusetts (S.2367). However, the bill only reaffirmed an existing Massachusetts state ban on assault weapons that was enacted as part of sweeping gun control laws passed in Massachusetts in 1998, five years before Romney took office, and didn’t ban any additional guns. The state ban of assault weapons enacted in 1998 was not due to disappear, nor would it have become invalid with the sunset of the federal ban in September, 2004.
(Massachusetts - Firearms Reform Bill Sent to the Governor`s Desk, National Rifle Association - Institute for Legislative Action, June 29, 2004)

The firearms reform bill signed by Governor Romney in 2004 had the endorsement of the NRA (a MUST READ), the Gun Owners’ Action League, law enforcement and Massachusetts gun owners. The bill added several measures these groups favored, including a lengthening of the terms of firearm identification cards and licenses to carry, namely;

1) Extending the term of a firearm identification card and a license to carry firearms from four years to six years,
2) Granting a 90-day grace period for holders of firearm identification cards and licenses to carry who have applied for renewal, and
3) Creating a seven-member Firearm License Review Board to review firearm license applications that have been denied.

“This is truly a great day for Massachusetts’ sportsmen and women. These reforms correct some serious mistakes that were made during the gun debate in 1998, when many of our state’s gun owners were stripped of their long-standing rights to own firearms.”
(MA State Senator Stephen M. Brewer (D), July 1, 2004)

“I want to congratulate everyone that has worked so hard on this issue. Because of their dedication, we are here today to sign into law this consensus piece of legislation. This change will go a long way toward fixing the flaws created by the 1998 law. Another key piece to this legislation addresses those citizens who have applied for renewals. If the government does not process their renewal in a timely fashion, those citizens won’t be put at risk because of the 90 day grace period that is being adopted today.”
(MA State Representative George N. Peterson, Jr. (R), July 1, 2004)

“There are a lot of good things in the bill,” said Jim Wallace, legislative director of the Gun Owners’ Action League, the state’s leading pro-gun group. “In all, the bill represents a healing process, or the beginning of the healing process, between lawful gun owners and the Massachusetts Legislature.”
(State moves on assault weapons ban, Boston Globe, June 24, 2004)