It isn’t as bad as it could have been, but it’s worse than we’d hoped.
By a vote of 38-0, the Massachusetts state Senate yesterday passed a watered-down version of Amendment 1 to House Bill 3951. As we reported before, the original Amendment 1 included broad language that could have banned a number of firearm modifications favored by hunters, competitive shooters and the physically disabled.
However, the version of Amendment 1 that won approval in the Senate narrowed the scope of affected modifications significantly, to include only “bump stocks” and “trigger cranks.” Additionally, Amendment 1 no longer prescribes an outright ban—the bill instead reclassifies such devices under Section 121, Chapter 140, a portion of state law dealing with machine guns.
The measure now moves to a conference committee, and Massachusetts gun owners are encouraged to contact their senator and representative and urge them to oppose the legislation. Find your legislators by clicking here.
