Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s recent unilateral decision to outlaw many semi-automatic rifles that have been legal for the last 18 years has thrown state gun shops into disarray. The ruling affected guns that Healey considered “copycats” of firearms banned under the state’s so-called “assault weapons” ban.
“We’re still trying to figure out is this gun legal, is that gun legal?” Mario Torchia, owner of Nick’s Sport Shop, told MassLive. “It’s still not that clear. There’s still a lot of questions on the mechanism of the guns, what falls into that class.”
That confusion might have been Healey’s intention all along, as confusion over laws often leads to gun owners not practicing their rights because they are unsure of their legality. Stay tuned here for more as the situation continues to unfold.
