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Massachusetts Considers Gun Reform Law
Ammoland ^ | 6 February, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 02/06/2016 4:11:47 AM PST by marktwain

Massachusetts Capitol Building


Nearly all states have some sort of law preempting local gun laws.  Preemption means that the State preserves to itself certain areas of the law.  Firearms are a natural for this protection; most   Most are comprehensive; a few are minimal.   Massachusetts has very limited state pre-emption.  From dovekopel.com:

Massachusetts preempts all gun licensing (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 140 sect. 129B), and the state constitution forbids local laws inconsistent with state law; for this reason, Boston's Dec. 1989 ban on "assault weapons" was not allowed to go into effect until the state legislature later passed a bill authorizing the ban.

States without preemption make it dangerous to exercise Second Amendment rights in any meaningful way.  This is the primary effect, and likely the purpose, desired by those who oppose statewide preemption laws.  States without local preemption laws are potential legal minefields for people who are carrying guns.  From wwlp.com:

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, FEB. 1, 2016_
Describing locally imposed restrictions in Massachusetts as threats to their constitutional rights, some gun owners have lined up behind a bill that would prevent municipalities from instituting their own ordinances around gun licensing.

"All we want is our rights," Lowell gun owner Arthur Perkins said during a hearing before the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security last week. "We don't want anything special. We're not asking for any other of the 32 steps that we go through to get a license to be taken away. We want the whimsy, we want the prejudice, we want the crazy beliefs to be taken away with. That is what this bill will do."


(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: banglist; gunlaw; ma; preemption
A decent pre-emption law in Massachusetts would be a good start toward restoring their Second Amendment rights. While Massachusetts has many very restrictive gun laws, they also have a high rate of carry permits. Getting a carry permit is only a little harder than getting a permit to simply own a single shot shotgun; so many opt to obtain the more difficult carry permit.
1 posted on 02/06/2016 4:11:47 AM PST by marktwain
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To: marktwain

http://www.davekopel.com/2A/IB/Limited-Preemption.htm

You can’t correct it on FR but if you can on Ammoland, I bet Dave would appreciate having his name spelled right.


2 posted on 02/06/2016 4:20:30 AM PST by T-Bird45 (It feels like the seventies, and it shouldn't.)
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To: T-Bird45

Thanks for the correction. I will get on it.


3 posted on 02/06/2016 4:41:10 AM PST by marktwain
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To: marktwain

This is coming out of the requirement in Lowell that you need to write an essay before they will consider your unrestricted handgun permit application.


4 posted on 02/06/2016 4:51:50 AM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Yo-Yo

Yes, that is one of the complaints.

8.4% of registered voters in Massachusetts have Class A (unrestricted) carry licenses.

8.4% is one heck of a voting block.


5 posted on 02/06/2016 5:07:11 AM PST by marktwain
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To: marktwain
I wonder what the conversations will be about in Mass. mosques this week? "...decent pre-emption law in Massachusetts

I wonder what the conversations will be in Mass. mosques this week?

6 posted on 02/06/2016 5:16:04 AM PST by Mr Apple ( 20 Large Mosques in our country - Are any of these being used to store some kinda' bad chit?)
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To: Mr Apple
"...decent pre-emption law in Massachusetts

I wonder what the conversations will be in Mass. mosques this week?
----there, fixed that

7 posted on 02/06/2016 5:17:58 AM PST by Mr Apple ( 20 Large Mosques in our country - Are any of these being used to store some kinda' bad chit?)
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To: Yo-Yo

..This coming out of the requirement in Lowell...for a handgun permit)...

I think Thomas Paine would be appropriate

‘Arms like laws discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world... Horrid mischief would ensue were one half the world deprived of the use of them; for while avarice and ambition have a place in the heart of man, the weak will become a prey to the strong.’


8 posted on 02/06/2016 5:29:37 AM PST by Sasparilla
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To: Yo-Yo

They have the same essay requirement in Weymouth as well.

Marko


9 posted on 02/06/2016 5:57:13 AM PST by markoman (If one gun is justified.....they all are.)
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To: marktwain

The voting block isn’t the percentage that have carry licenses.

It is the percentage that are legally eligible for carry licenses but have been arbitrarily denied one.


10 posted on 02/06/2016 6:04:12 AM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Yo-Yo

I believe it is all those with carry licenses, because the pre-emption law removes considerable legal risks from all of them. It eliminates many silly local laws that are just legal traps for otherwise innocent legal gun carriers.


11 posted on 02/06/2016 6:20:15 AM PST by marktwain
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To: Yo-Yo

This is a “requirement” in many municipalities here. I believe it has been, for many years, up to the municipality (in most cases, the Chief of Police) to “require” that.


12 posted on 02/06/2016 6:51:41 AM PST by rlmorel ("Irrational violence against muslims" is a myth, but "Irrational violence against non-muslims" isn't)
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To: marktwain

“A decent pre-emption law in Massachusetts would be a good start toward restoring their Second Amendment rights. While Massachusetts has many very restrictive gun laws, they also have a high rate of carry permits. Getting a carry permit is only a little harder than getting a permit to simply own a single shot shotgun; so many opt to obtain the more difficult carry permit.”

Pre-emption law? Carry permits? Restrictive gun laws?

“...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”.

Nope. Don’t see any permit listed, nor do I see anything about ‘compelling govt interest/police powers’


13 posted on 02/06/2016 11:18:17 AM PST by i_robot73 ("A man chooses. A slave obeys." - Andrew Ryan)
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