Action Urged on Governor's Lawful Citizen Imprisonment Act
Gun Owners' Action League is urging its members to contact the members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and ask them to send H3991 "An Act to Reduce Gun Violence" to a study. The Governor's bill H3991, otherwise known as the "Lawful Citizens Imprisonment Act", would punish those who lawfully purchase more than one rifle, shotgun, firearm, machine gun, large capacity weapon or large capacity feeding device in any 30-day period shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by imprisonment for not more than 2 ½ years, or both, for a first offense; and for any subsequent offense shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000, or by imprisonment for not more than 2 ½ years in a house of correction or not more than 5 years in the state prison, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The same punishment exists in the bill for the licensed dealer who lawfully sells the products.
"There doesn't appear to be any attempt in this bill to address illegal sales of firearms other than to make a normally lawful transaction an illegal act," said Jim Wallace Executive Director of Gun Owners' Action League. "The only people this bill punishes is lawfully licensed citizens. Imagine an elected official filling legislation that would imprison a lawfully licensed citizen for purchasing a lawful product from a lawfully licensed retailer where both the retailer and the citizen go to prison for doing nothing wrong and harming no one! Well that is precisely what this bill does."
H3991 is one of the few bills that has not been acted upon by the committee and is being held under an extension order until June 12, 2008. GOAL is urging all of our members to contact the members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and ask them to put this bill into a study and to perhaps release a bill in the future that punishes the acts of criminals rather than legislation that persecutes lawful citizens for taking part in lawful commerce.
Members appointed to the committee:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/j19.htm
Creedon of Second Plymouth and Bristol (Senate Chair)
Baddour of First Essex
Antonioni of Worcester and Middlesex
Creem of First Middlesex and Norfolk
McGee of Third Essex and Middlesex
Tarr of First Essex and Middlesex
O'Flaherty of Chelsea (House Chair)
Finegold of Andover
Naughton of Clinton
J. M. Murphy of Weymouth
Peisch of Wellesley
Curran of Springfield
J. D. Keenan of Salem
Walz of Boston
Fernandes of Milford
Evangelidis of Holden
Webster of Hanson
Dear Committee Member,
Gun Owners’ Action League would like to remind you that we strongly oppose Governor Patrick’s proposed legislation H3991, “An Act to Reduce Gun Violence”, commonly referred to as the “One Gun a Month Bill”. This bill has become known to our members as the “Lawful Citizen Imprisonment Act”.
The premise of the bill is that the lawful gun owners of Massachusetts are responsible for the illegal gun trade in the Commonwealth. H3991 makes it a crime for a licensed gun owner to purchase more than one firearm (handgun), rifle, shotgun, large capacity weapon, large capacity feeding device or machine gun from a licensed firearm dealer in a 30 day period. The punishment for the first offense is a fine of not more than $1,000 and/or a sentence of not more than 2 ½ years in a house of correction. It should be clear that there is nothing in this legislation that addresses the acts of criminals dealing in illegal firearms.
The process for obtaining a License to Carry Firearms and the purchasing of firearms are both quite extensive, as shown in the attached document. However, even after the background checks and training, a law abiding citizen may be thrown in jail for buying more than one gun in a month’s time. How would that deter crime? The criminals committing gun related crimes do not go through the proper channels to get licensed and purchase guns legally-so changing the law will not affect them or gun related crime. The law abiding citizens of the Commonwealth should not be punished for the actions of criminals.
We urge you to send this bill to study and to perhaps release a bill in the future that punishes the acts of criminals rather than legislation that persecutes lawful citizens for taking part in lawful commerce.
Sincerely,
James L. Wallace
Executive Director
Gun Owners' Action League is urging its members to contact the members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and ask them to send H3991 "An Act to Reduce Gun Violence" to a study. The Governor's bill H3991, otherwise known as the "Lawful Citizens Imprisonment Act", would punish those who lawfully purchase more than one rifle, shotgun, firearm, machine gun, large capacity weapon or large capacity feeding device in any 30-day period shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by imprisonment for not more than 2 ½ years, or both, for a first offense; and for any subsequent offense shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000, or by imprisonment for not more than 2 ½ years in a house of correction or not more than 5 years in the state prison, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The same punishment exists in the bill for the licensed dealer who lawfully sells the products.
"There doesn't appear to be any attempt in this bill to address illegal sales of firearms other than to make a normally lawful transaction an illegal act," said Jim Wallace Executive Director of Gun Owners' Action League. "The only people this bill punishes is lawfully licensed citizens. Imagine an elected official filling legislation that would imprison a lawfully licensed citizen for purchasing a lawful product from a lawfully licensed retailer where both the retailer and the citizen go to prison for doing nothing wrong and harming no one! Well that is precisely what this bill does."
H3991 is one of the few bills that has not been acted upon by the committee and is being held under an extension order until June 12, 2008. GOAL is urging all of our members to contact the members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and ask them to put this bill into a study and to perhaps release a bill in the future that punishes the acts of criminals rather than legislation that persecutes lawful citizens for taking part in lawful commerce.
Members appointed to the committee:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/j19.htm
Creedon of Second Plymouth and Bristol (Senate Chair)
Baddour of First Essex
Antonioni of Worcester and Middlesex
Creem of First Middlesex and Norfolk
McGee of Third Essex and Middlesex
Tarr of First Essex and Middlesex
O'Flaherty of Chelsea (House Chair)
Finegold of Andover
Naughton of Clinton
J. M. Murphy of Weymouth
Peisch of Wellesley
Curran of Springfield
J. D. Keenan of Salem
Walz of Boston
Fernandes of Milford
Evangelidis of Holden
Webster of Hanson
Dear Committee Member,
Gun Owners’ Action League would like to remind you that we strongly oppose Governor Patrick’s proposed legislation H3991, “An Act to Reduce Gun Violence”, commonly referred to as the “One Gun a Month Bill”. This bill has become known to our members as the “Lawful Citizen Imprisonment Act”.
The premise of the bill is that the lawful gun owners of Massachusetts are responsible for the illegal gun trade in the Commonwealth. H3991 makes it a crime for a licensed gun owner to purchase more than one firearm (handgun), rifle, shotgun, large capacity weapon, large capacity feeding device or machine gun from a licensed firearm dealer in a 30 day period. The punishment for the first offense is a fine of not more than $1,000 and/or a sentence of not more than 2 ½ years in a house of correction. It should be clear that there is nothing in this legislation that addresses the acts of criminals dealing in illegal firearms.
The process for obtaining a License to Carry Firearms and the purchasing of firearms are both quite extensive, as shown in the attached document. However, even after the background checks and training, a law abiding citizen may be thrown in jail for buying more than one gun in a month’s time. How would that deter crime? The criminals committing gun related crimes do not go through the proper channels to get licensed and purchase guns legally-so changing the law will not affect them or gun related crime. The law abiding citizens of the Commonwealth should not be punished for the actions of criminals.
We urge you to send this bill to study and to perhaps release a bill in the future that punishes the acts of criminals rather than legislation that persecutes lawful citizens for taking part in lawful commerce.
Sincerely,
James L. Wallace
Executive Director