Still reeling from an onerous new anti-gun law being signed on July 25 by anti-gun Gov. Maura Healey (D), Massachusetts gun owners were recently dealt another blow when the governor expedited implementation of the law.
On October 2, Healey signed an emergency preamble putting the law, which the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) calls “one of the most extreme gun control laws in the country” into effect immediately. The purely political procedural move circumvents any opportunity for citizens to utilize the referendum process to appeal the law anytime soon and puts gun owners and sportsmen at risk since many facets of the law lack the systems and guidance necessary.
“This gun safety law bans ghost guns, strengthens the Extreme Risk Protection Order statute to keep guns out of the hands of people who are a danger to themselves or others, and invests in violence prevention programs,” Healey said when signing the emergency preamble. “It is important that these measures go into effect without delay.”
Randy Kozuch, NRA-ILA executive director, said the move by Healey was purely political.
“With the swipe of a pen, Governor Healey has shamelessly circumvented Massachusetts’ political process and expedited the effective date of her radical gun control law in the Commonwealth,” Randy Kozuch, NRA-ILA executive director, said in a released statement. “This extreme law will not go unchecked, and the NRA will be launching a challenge to restore the rights guaranteed to Bay Staters by the U.S. Constitution.”
Among other things, the law adds a number of firearms to the commonwealth’s list of banned so-called “assault weapons,” which, of course, are just common semi-automatic rifles, pistols and shotguns used by law-abiding Americans for everything from sport shooting and competition to hunting and home defense. A separate provision raises the age to own a semi-automatic rifle or shotgun to 21 years of age.
Yet another portion of the law makes the commonwealth’s “red-flag” statute even more onerous for gun owners and their right to due process. It also makes the state’s current ban on standard-capacity magazines even more restrictive.
In addition, the law instructs the Department of Criminal Justice to set up a real-time electronic firearms registration system and dictates that: “All firearm transactions within the commonwealth, including, but not limited to, all purchases, sales, rentals, leases, loans or other transfers shall be reported to the electronic firearms registration system.” Other provisions within the law include expanding the definitions for modifications and parts that could convert a semi-auto into a full-auto firearm and banning them, prohibiting so-called “ghost guns,” and expanding the list of places where carrying a firearm is banned to include government buildings, polling places and schools.
The law further requires standardized safety training, including a live fire component, for all firearm license applicants; establishes a commission to study the funding structure for violence prevention services; and establishes a commission to study the status, feasibility and utility of smart guns and microstamping.
An initiative petition effort to repeal the law before some provisions could take effect was scuttled by Healey’s emergency declaration, but organizers say they already have over 90,000 signatures, more than enough to get the question on the 2026 ballot.
Toby Leary, one of the petition’s organizers and co-founder of a gun shop and shooting range in Hyannis, Mass., told the Associated Press that the law is “an effort to suppress a right that is enshrined in our Bill of Rights” and never should have been passed.
“This is something that is aimed at all of our civil rights,” Leary said. “If they can do this to the Second Amendment, they can do this to any other right.”
Two lawsuits have already been filed concerning the law, and the NRA is currently preparing to challenge the law in court. Healey’s recent action putting the law into effect immediately has provided the Association with an opportunity to expedite that legal challenge.
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