Mass. House votes to pass extensive gun bill amid criticism
Aims to block illegal firearms
After hours of speeches by state House members on both sides of the issue, lawmakers Tuesday voted 120-38 — with two representatives not voting — to approve a bill to overhaul Massachusetts firearms laws.
The 125-page package of gun control measures, first introduced in June, seeks to stem the flow of illegal firearms into the state and target so-called ghost guns, among other things, and has received praise from gun control supporters as well as the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, while drawing the ire of GOP politicians, gun groups and trainers, and police chiefs.
The original bill filed in June by Joint Judiciary Committee Chair Michael S. Day sparked loud pushback from gun groups and a protest from Senate Democrats, who fought with the House over which legislative committee should hold a public hearing on it.
The House action, however, does not mean a quick resolution to the legislation. The Senate is still working behind the scenes on its own version of the bill, and has not provided a timeline on its effort.
The House wanted the bill to be handled by the Judiciary Committee, citing the fallout from a 2022 Supreme Court decision expanding gun rights across the country and the committee’s history of acting on bills related to court decisions. The Senate wanted the bill to be heard in the Public Safety Committee, which has historically considered bills related to firearms and gun control.
The House ultimately brought the bill to the floor for a final vote by pushing it through the chamber’s powerful Committee on Ways and Means instead of holding a hearing in a joint committee made up of House and Senate members, as is the typical process for a bill like this one.
“This effort is nothing new in Massachusetts. Here, we regularly, revisit that firearm laws and update them to reflect the realities of the modern day,” bill sponsor Representative Michael Day, a Stoneham Democrat, said. “Since July 1, 90 of our families in Massachusetts have been forever shattered because of shootings. Ninety separate shootings since July 1. Not a morning goes by when we don’t hear about a shooting and avoidable death.”
While most of the 49 amendments were withdrawn or rejected, lawmakers did vote unanimously to accept an amendment to allow off-duty police officers to carry guns in sensitive places like schools, government buildings, and polling places. They also adopted an amendment that would exempt state-owned public land (where people can hunt) from a proposed ban on carrying guns in “sensitive places,” which includes government buildings.
Republicans on Wednesday argued that House leaders pushed the bill through too fast, and that it will come with financial costs that haven’t been considered. They pushed for the House to include a “fiscal note” with the bill, as is required for bills that will cost more than $100,000. A fiscal note is an estimate of the costs, savings, revenue gain, or revenue loss that may come from the implementation of a bill.
The last time the Legislature passed significant gun legislation was in 2018, when lawmakers approved the state’s “red flag law” empowering courts to take firearms away from people thought to be a danger to themselves or others.
The bill the House passed Wednesday proposes:
• Leaving banning guns to the discretion of individual businesses, while introducing a blanket ban on firearms being carried into “sensitive spaces” like schools, government buildings, and polling places, with an exemption for police to carry their department-issued gun while off duty. The bill also would make clear that an individual would have to receive permission before bringing a gun into someone’s home.
• Creating a legacy or “grandfather clause” for people who legally owned certain assault-style weapons, protecting them from running afoul of the law if it were to go into effect. Under the bill, certain assault-style weapons would become illegal to carry or sell.
• Requiring all gun frames to be labeled with a serial number, which lawmakers say is consistent with the federal requirements on firearms produced by licensed manufacturers. This proposal aims to prevent the creation of unregistered “ghost guns,” which are untraceable because they do not have serial numbers. Law enforcement officials say have proliferated around the state.
• Removing the current right for 18- to 21-year-olds to personally own a semiautomatic rifle or shotgun. The legislation, however, would preserve the right of this age group to own rifles and shotguns that are not semiautomatic with a special long gun permit.
• Moving the responsibility to inspect gun dealers from local licensing authorities to the Massachusetts State Police.
• Requiring applicants for a license to carry or long gun permit to participate in live firearm training.
• Expanding the state’s “red flag law,” empowering family members, law enforcement, school administrators, health care providers, and employers to petition a court for an order from a judge that suspends a person’s license to possess or carry a gun based on showing that the person is a danger to themselves or others and has a gun. It would also require the person to surrender any guns in their possession, and allow the courts to issue warrants to seize guns not surrendered within one day of a person being notified of the order.
The bill now heads to the Senate, which has yet to file its own version. An aide to majority leader Cindy Creem said last week it’s unclear when a bill would be drafted.