BOSTON, MA - Legislature? We don’t need any stinking legislature. At least if you’re Massachusetts’ ultra-diverse, governor Maura Healey.
Healey, who apparently considers herself a monarch, bypassed Commonwealth of Massachusetts law and issued an “emergency preamble” to legislate sweeping gun control measures in the state, ZeroHedge reports. H. 4885 was scheduled to take effect on Oct. 23, however, she decided to take executive action under the guise of when “the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or convenience” is deemed necessary.
Healey, the Commonwealth’s first governor who comes from the alphabet community, decided to circumvent a petition drive seeking to delay the implementation of new gun safety laws.
While gun-grabbing groups may have applauded Healey’s action, she was met with fierce opposition from gun rights advocates. These advocates, who were striving to gather enough signatures to delay the implementation of the measure until a potential 2026 referendum, now find themselves in a direct confrontation with Healey’s attempt to circumvent their efforts.
In a post on X, Cape Cod Gun Works released a lengthy release slamming Healey’s decision.
“With a single stroke of the pen, Healey risks putting as many as 400 stores out of business and turning tens of thousands of law-abiding citizens into felons, simply by owning guns they have lawfully possessed for years,” the business wrote, citing Toby Leary, Chairman of the Civil Rights Coalition which is leading the fight to repeal H.4885.
“Governor Healey is eroding our constitutional rights, dismantling the petition effort, and shutting down more gun stores than COVID ever did,” said Leary. “If this were truly a public health emergency, she would have enacted the preamble when the bill was signed back in July. Now that we are close to gathering the signatures needed to suspend the law for two years, she’s invoking an emergency preamble to sidestep the will of the people. She’s acting more like a dictator than a governor.”
Recall that Democrats are running on a platform of “saving democracy.” Yet, at every turn, they are taking steps to undermine democracy and instead act like tin-pot dictators.
According to Healey, who owns Cape Cod Gun Works, “rifles and shotguns would be reclassified into the same category as handguns overnight. This new classification would prohibit their sale until a roster is published–a process that could take years.”
As with most gun control laws, the Massachusetts measure does nothing to deal with the outbreak of crime in the Commonwealth, a point addressed by Healey.
Under the expedited law, it includes provisions to ban “ghost guns,” expand restrictions on so-called “assault-style” firearms and large-capacity magazines and tighten the commonwealth’s “red flag” laws (laws that allow family members or law enforcement to petition a state court to order the temporary removal of firearms from a person who may present a danger to others or themselves). Firearm license applicants will also be required to pass a standardized safety exam and complete live-fire training. It will also violate doctor-patient privilege while providing mental health information to local licensing authorities.
In an October 2 statement, the ultra-diverse Healey said:
“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. It is important that these measures go into effect without delay.”
In addition to Leary, Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League (GOAL), also slammed Healey, with the group issuing a statement condemning the law as a “historic attack on our civil rights,” ironic since Massachusetts is widely considered the “cradle of liberty” since the Revolutionary War was hatched in the Bay State. Wallace said Healey’s past actions had already drawn ire from the state’s Second Amendment proponents:
“At every turn, the Legislature and now the governor have avoided honest public input, especially from the [Second Amendment] community,” he said in a statement. “We are the only stakeholders involved, and there is a consistent effort to silence our voices and mislead the general public.”
Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association (NRA) also promised to take legal action to block the implementation of the measure.
“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, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), said in a 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.”
In addition to the above restrictions, the law prohibits firearms at schools, polling places, and government buildings and increases penalties for shootings near residential areas.
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