Mass. Lawmakers Pass Assault Weapons Ban
6/25/2004
In case the federal ban on assault weapons isn't renewed when it expires in September, Massachusetts lawmakers have approved a measure that would prohibit the same 19 weapons in the state, the Boston Globe reported June 24.
Lawmakers also included provisions that would make it easier to own legal guns in the state, a move that pleased gun-rights advocates.
Sen. Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge), who championed the bill, said it "recognizes the importance of preserving the assault-weapons ban for the safety of Massachusetts citizens, but also the need to make technical adjustments in the state's gun-safety laws."
In addition to banning the sale of semiautomatic, military-style assault weapons, the legislation would lengthen the term of gun licenses from four years to six, create a review board to restore gun licenses to individuals convicted of certain misdemeanors, and implement a 90-day grace period for expired firearm-identification cards and concealed-carry licenses.
"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."
The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the measure on a voice vote. The state Senate had approved the same bill earlier. Gov. Mitt Romney is expected to have the legislation in about a week. The governor has not taken a position on the bill.
Although Massachusetts enacted its own assault-weapons ban in 1998, the law's definitions of prohibited weapons relied on the federal definitions. State lawmakers wanted to ensure that if the federal ban expired, the state ban wouldn't dissolve, as well.
Well atleast the Gay Marriages taking place in Mass won't be the only problem Kerry will have to answer for
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I think the new motto for Massachusettes should read.
Trading Guns, For Gays!
or
Give us your gays, we'll give you our guns
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Hoyt Carbon Element RKT Blackout
Axcel Armourtech HD Sights
Easton Arrows
United Bowhunters of Pa. Member
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
I still do not see how any state thinks they have any right to make a single law regading the purchase and posession of firearms.
The right to firearms is not a state issue it is a federal one.
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"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency........... Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."
"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."
What is this guy talking about? How could anyone representing a pro-gun group say such a thing?
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Mass. Lawmakers Pass Assault Weapons Ban
