Meehan Replacement and Backdoor Gun Show Block and other CRAP

[Chris]

Watch the elections to fill Marty Meehan's seat in Congress.

If you live in his district, you MUST get to the polls and cast your vote for:

Jim Miceli

Not only is he an A+ GOAL rated legislator, but one of the few who voted 'NO' backin 1998 on a little piece of legislation that became Chapter 180 of the Acts of 1998.

Gun dealers are being told that they MUST use the MIRCs system for all sales - including Gun Shows. This is the computer system setup that was recently put in place. If you know anything about the systems, they are pretty much hard wired at the place of business and can't be easily carried around and set up in a remote location.

End Result? Back door closure of Gun Shows in MA.

Target Pistol update:

Check out the GOAL site for the details. Today in Framingham the GCAB is meeting to finalize their recommendations on the criteria of what is a Target Pistol. One of the more serious requirements is a hell of a lot of paperwork from manufacturers attesting the a gun's "Sole Purpose" as a competition gun.

Bizzare how the State can create a list of what they call "High Capacity" with no input from the manufacturers, but need all kinds of sworn affidavits to determine what is a "target gun". Anyone else see some kind of selective treatment here?

GOAL received a reply to our request that the Governor supply us with his evidence that lawful firearm purchasers in Massachusetts are the source for the illegal guns on the street. In effect, the Governor's letter says "I have no such evidence". Be sure to read the details on the GOAL website.

Oh, and did you know that the Governor's office is EXEMPT from the Freedom of Information Act? Neither did I, but they are claiming that too.

Remember, Sept 14 is the next GOAL Banquet at the Hilltop in Saugus.

 

[pipmaster1971]

It's called "death by 1000 cuts" Chris. Small bits of legislation, that on their own don't seem that bad (well, the target pistol part in your article is total crap), but when taken together become very restrictive. I'm from the UK, and since the 1920's that's what the gun legislation did....small changes here and there. After 85 years you ended up with the situation where almost no guns are allowed (apart from shotguns with a barrel length > 23 inches), but no one cares because guns became so hard to get that they are no longer part of a UK citizen's culture.

I haven't looked at the legislation, but isn't their any way the system can interface to a cell-phone tethered laptop? Does it really need to be hard-wired? Or can't they just phone into the system?

 

[Chris]

There IS no legislation. This is all "opinion of departments".

 

[pipmaster1971]

There IS no legislation. This is all "opinion of departments".

Yet [sad2] ... Knowing how things work in MA you can bet it wouldn't take long before some asshat tries to write some legislation. Something along the lines of "all handguns can not be a larger caliber than .22".....

If I were you I would move to NH

 

[Gabe]

I think Chris' point is that they don't even need legislation, so why even bother to change laws since they don't have to in order to get their way. IANAL but I think this strategy oppresses the less-than-extraordinarily wealthy because in order to show that some committee's regulation is illegal, you need to $ue.

 

[Pilgrim]

Herr Reilly didn't need legislation, and look what he accomplished.

 

[LoginName]

Oh, and did you know that the Governor's office is EXEMPT from the Freedom of Information Act? Neither did I, but they are claiming that too.

I didn't know that either, but it appears that they're correct...

(talk about letting the fox guard the henhouse)

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Like all federal agencies, the Department of Justice (DOJ) generally is required under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to disclose records requested in writing by any person. However, agencies may withhold information pursuant to nine exemptions and three exclusions contained in the statute. The FOIA applies only to federal agencies and does not create a right of access to records held by Congress, the courts, or by state or local government agencies. Each state has its own public access laws that should be consulted for access to state and local records.

http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/index.html

 

[csharpdev]

You also don't need facts to support legislation that is backed by emotion resulting from a lack of knowledge. If fact, facts may actually hinder your ability to pass said legislation.

 

[Dick]

I didn't know that either, but it appears that they're correct...

(talk about letting the fox guard the henhouse)



http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/index.html

Well, they may ultimately be correct, but that's the Federal FOIA, and it doesn't matter if they're exempt from that - there's a separate Massachusetts FOIA (here: http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/66-10.htm ) and at least on an initial quick reading I don't see any exemption for the Governor/Executive Branch (which means they probably hid it in some other unlikely part of the MGL).

Later clarification:

I went to the GOAL site and see that the Governor's office isn't claiming a blanket exemption from the Mass FOIA, but rather claiming (in part) that either (a) they don't have any documents and/or (b) if they do have documents they are of the type(s) specifically exempted from FOIA requests. That's a bit different situation - equally disingenuous, but different.

 

[Ripach]

Huge Surprise, the Anti's have no evidence to back up the need for further legislation. Did any of us actually expect to see/find such evidence? I think not, we all knew it was horsehockey from the beginning.