Just do something
By Alison Kuznitz STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JULY 25, 2023…..As the House backs down from its plan to advance an omnibus gun reform package this summer, the Senate is now considering its own strategy to potentially produce a comprehensive bill or combine some of the many proposals awaiting a committee...
fallriverreporter.com
Dear Senate Majority Leader Creem,
It has come to our attention this evening that the Senate is interested in formulating its own bill regarding gun crimes:
By Alison Kuznitz
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JULY 25, 2023…..As the House backs down from its plan to advance an omnibus gun reform package this summer, the Senate is now considering its own strategy to potentially produce a comprehensive bill or combine some of the many proposals awaiting a committee hearing.
“I know we in the Senate are going to be working on our own bill,” Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem told the News Service on Tuesday. “We’re going to now be working on trying to find consensus in our body on a bill that we can put out.
We’re looking to do our due diligence.”
As part of your senatorial due diligence may we respectfully draw your attention to the following public statements made over the course of the past few weeks:
The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association was requested to read the bill and provide their opinion of how passage and implementation of the bill’s content would affect both police and citizens of this Commonwealth. Here is their rather telling analysis:
MCOPA response to House Bill HD 4420 (goal.org)
The Ware Police Department put out this statement;
The Ware Police Department would like to bring an important matter to your attention: the proposed anti-gun Bill currently under consideration (HD 4420, An Act Modernizing Firearms Laws). We understand that this state-level legislation has raised concerns among law-abiding citizens who value their Second Amendment rights.
We recognize that the right to bear arms is a fundamental aspect of our nation's history and an essential component of personal and collective security. As members of the police force, we are committed to upholding the law and defending the rights of our community members.
A plethora of blatantly unconstitutional proposals litter this travesty of a Bill, too many to mention here; however, of particular egregiousness is the criminalization of carrying firearms in certain so-called “prohibited locations”, including businesses and private properties, EVEN WHILE HOLDING A VALID LICENSE TO CARRY. Not even off-duty police officers will be exempted from this appalling mandate.
Gun Free zones have been proven to have no effect on stopping crime, in fact they embolden criminals to seek out these areas as soft targets of opportunity, where their chances of meeting resistance will be minimal.
This Bill does not address criminals. Rather it focuses on making criminals out of law-abiding citizens and further hampers police agencies from combating true crime.
We believe that public input and engagement are crucial in shaping legislation that reflects the diverse perspectives and concerns of our citizens. Therefore, we encourage you, the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who have a long and storied history of throwing off the chains of our oppressors (let not this tradition die in the hands of our generation), to actively participate in the democratic process by voicing your opinions and taking appropriate actions to safeguard your rights.
Here are a few ways you can make a difference:
- Educate yourself: Familiarize yourself with the details of the proposed anti-gun Bill. Read the legislation, study its potential impact, and understand its implications for your rights as a responsible gun owner.
- Communicate with your elected representatives: Reach out to your local, state, and federal representatives to express your concerns about the Bill. Write letters, and make phone calls to ensure your voice is heard.
- Encourage open dialogue: Foster constructive conversations about gun ownership, emphasizing responsible practices and the importance of preserving individual liberties. Engage in respectful discussions with friends, family, and neighbors to promote understanding and awareness.
- Stay informed and mobilize: Keep yourself updated on the progress of the bill and its potential impact on your rights. Stay connected with local gun rights organizations and be prepared to mobilize if necessary.
- Remember, your involvement in shaping legislation that impacts your rights is vital. By actively participating and voicing your concerns, you contribute to the democratic process and help ensure that legislation is fair, balanced, and respects the rights of responsible citizens.
The Ware Police Department encourages respectful and law-abiding civic engagement on this matter. We are committed to maintaining the safety and security of our community while upholding the rights enshrined in our Constitution.
Thank you for your attention and active participation.
-Ware PD
The Plymouth Police Department had this to say about the proposed bill:
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR MASSACHUSETTS ELECTED OFFICIALS IN REGARDS TO THIS BILL.
To The Residents of the Town of Plymouth:
As I enter my third year as your police chief, responsible for overseeing the 123 sworn men and women who serve the more than 60,000 of you day in and day out, my duty compels me to speak up.
I have read the relevant portions of H.D. 4420, a bill proposing a substantial rewrite of Massachusetts’ existing gun laws.
Despite claims this bill attempts to stem the flow of illegal firearms into the state while increasing protection from gun violence, I see no language that would lead one to believe this rationale to be true. Instead, it appears the only thing this bill will accomplish is turning thousands of our law-abiding residents into criminals overnight.
This bill seems more designed to invade the privacy and vandalize and confiscate the property of law-abiding citizens than it does protecting them.
As we saw all too clearly this week in the State Forest, our issue is with criminals who have guns NOW, not those we stand to make into criminals LATER. Instead of punishing criminals or those prohibited from possessing firearms, this bill targets lawful gun owners who are some of the most well vetted in both the Commonwealth and the entire nation. There is nothing in this bill that mandates the judicial system enforce the laws currently in full force and effect.
When was the last time anyone served time under Bartley-Fox? For instance, we now know attempting to shoot and murder seven people, including five police officers, will result in just five to seven years in prison.
We recently had an incident in our community where a lawfully licensed firearm holder stopped the attempted kidnapping, and potentially worse, of a woman in a domestic violence incident. This gentleman was a contractor working at a residence across the street. Under this bill, if this Samaritan did not have expressed written consent of the victim/homeowner to have his firearm on her premises, he would be subject to a criminal charge. The same goes for an off-duty Plymouth County Sheriff’s deputy who saved countless lives a few years back when he ended a stabbing rampage in a Taunton restaurant.
Instead of being recognized as the heroes they are, they would be charged with a crime, and recognized at their arraignment.
In nothing else, this bill will make both enforcement and compliance with our laws even more complicated and confusing. As anyone who has had the unfortunate experience of trying to navigate our already-strict gun laws knows, it’s already confusing enough. The firearms law guide used by our officers already clocks in at well over 400 pages. This bill will jostle definitions and provisions all around the books with various changes, placing our laws into an even greater state of misunderstanding and chaos.
As a licensing authority which consistently ranks within the top ten municipalities in the entire Commonwealth for the number of firearms licenses, this is of grave concern to me.
As a law enforcement officer first and foremost, I take the duty of protecting persons from any type of violence as my ultimate mission. However, this bill targets the wrong individuals and needs to be reconsidered.
In closing, I urge our State House delegation to withhold their support from this bill as written.
Sincerely,
Chief Dana. A. Flynn
Police, municipal leaders in Western Mass. weigh in on state gun bill
- Published: Jul. 24, 2023, 7:57 p.m.
Police, municipal leaders in Western Mass. weigh in on state gun bill - masslive.com
Meanwhile, other officials in Western Massachusetts said the gun bill misfired, and that attention was better spent working on bills that would make changes to the justice system.
In a written statement, Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the issue of gun violence was best addressed by jailing repeat violent criminal offenders.
“If you want to reduce and help mitigate gun violence, you need to hold these repeat violent criminal offenders in jail,” Sarno said. “To keep releasing these violent criminal offenders back out onto our streets and into our community is foolhardy and only continues the revolving door of our justice system which harms and hurts our community and residents.”
Springfield Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood said licensed gun owners are not the issue, and added that lawmakers should create legislation that would address the small percentage of criminals who are repeat violent criminal offenders.
“Springfield Police Department fully supports any legislation and action that would help reduce and mitigate criminal activity,” Clapprood said. “Although I believe the intent of this legislation means well,
in truth the ... language does nothing to address the issue of illegal guns and ghost guns being used in criminal activity by repeat violent criminal offenders.”
One law that could help, she said, is the Bartley-Fox law, enacted in 1975, which “could substantially help reduce gun violence if it was utilized more by our courts.”
Westfield Mayor Michael A. McCabe, formerly a long-serving police captain in his city prior to being elected mayor, said,
“If you remove guns from folks who have lawful ownership, you are removing” a key deterrent against being victimized by criminals.
”We probably have in Massachusetts the toughest gun law application system in the nation, and a gun ownership vetting process second to none,” he said.
The mayor said law-abiding citizens contribute an important role in community safety.
In a
July 14 post on Facebook, the Ware Police Department said the bill on Beacon Hill would hamper law enforcement and affect law-abiding citizens.
”A plethora of blatantly unconstitutional proposals litter this travesty of a bill, too many to mention here; however, of particular egregiousness is the criminalization of carrying firearms in certain so-called ‘prohibited locations,’ including businesses and private properties, EVEN WHILE HOLDING A VALID LICENSE TO CARRY. Not even off-duty police officers will be exempted from this appalling mandate,” the post says.
In an interview, Ware Police Chief Shawn C. Crevier said, “Massachusetts has great firearms laws. Legislators should focus their efforts on the court system enforcing penalties for these gun laws.”
One can be forgiven for thinking that the manner in which this entire bill is being rammed thru the legislative process reminds one of the quote attributed to the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives who remarked about the passage of a massive bill that no one had the actual time to read much less consider that, “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”
This proposed bill in the house is not offered with any data to support its effectiveness against crime or its needless attack on the rights and wellbeing of lawful gun owners in the Commonwealth.
Advocates for firearms owners in MA, such as
The Gun Owners Action League (GOAL), have not been invited to provide data that Speaker Mariano and HD4420 author, Representative Michael Day, have, it appears, purposely failed to provide in their summary. This data would show that the provisions of this proposed bill do nothing to impact crime in MA in a meaningful way and will overnight make felons out of tens of thousands of lawful gun owning citizens.
If this proposed bill comes to the Senate, or a joint committee, I strongly urge you to ask to be provided with actual analytical data that supports these extreme changes to our firearms laws and attacks on lawful licensed gun owners.
When the Senate’s turn comes to analyze and discuss this proposed bill please ask for the data and hold hearings in public with all the individuals who would adversely be impacted by passage of this bill as it is presently written.
Please also make sure and ask why this needed to be said by The Gun Owners Action League,
“It is clear that the state has never been interested in the true data. In fact when GOAL first met with Chairman Day prior to the recent so called listening tour, he became very agitated when we tried to present him with the government’s own data. He was adamant that it was not to be discussed in his office.”
Passage of this proposed bill will not have any measurable impact on the crime situation in the Commonwealth but it will in fact increase the threat to the safety and security of all citizens who will now find themselves at elevated risk of becoming criminal victims thru no fault of their own.
We note that the media is reporting that the draft of H.D.4420 is 142 pages in length. We find it rather remarkable that Chairman Day is capable of summarizing those 142 pages in
JUST a 2 ½ page summary that certainly doesn’t address
ALL of the parts of the bill nor any of the
Actual Ramifications of just how enactment will actually affect the reported 600,000 licensed gun owners in the state as well as the all of the police departments and their officers.
It would be fair to say that the summary presented to House members is a blatant material misrepresentation of what the underlining intent of this legislative proposal hopes to accomplish to wit: the forced closure of all businesses who sell firearms and related products as well as the criminalization of all individuals who have spent the time and money to go thru the extensive licensing process required for lawful firearms ownership.
Despite our best good faith efforts we are unable to discover
WHERE in this bill the emphasis is pursuant to addressing the actual underlining cause of the crime in the Commonwealth:
THE CRIMINAL. This is nothing less than a feel good exercise that will do absolutely nothing at all to make all citizens of this Commonwealth any degree more safe and secure in their daily lives. The included GOAL summary does not cover the entire bill but it certainly is more honest and accurate regarding the effects of just how this bill’s passage would adversely affect every citizen than is the Chairman’s summary.
We respectfully ask that you take the time to study this partial analysis of what H.D.4420 will do if it is enacted into binding legislation before you write the Senate’s version of the bill.
Thank you for your time.
