Massachusetts lawmakers unveil major gun control reform bill
BOSTON – A day after a shooting in Holyoke left a pregnant mother fighting for her life and her baby dead, Massachusetts lawmakers announced sweeping gun reform legislation.
Entitled An Act Modernizing Firearm Laws, the 123-page bill attempts to update Massachusetts gun control laws ruled unconstitutional in a recent Supreme Court decision, and also adds several other protections, according to the lawmakers who proposed it.
As the bill was announced in a press conference Thursday, Representative Michael Day said, "A woman minding her own business sitting on a public bus midday in Holyoke, now has her baby ripped away from her and she's left battling for her own life because of stray gunfire."
According to a summary of the bill, it would stem the flow of illegal guns by providing "tools for law enforcement to target illegal gun trafficking by including an enhanced tracing system to track firearms used in crimes, modernizing the existing firearm registration system, and increasing the availability of firearm data for academic and policy use."
The bill would also update and increase thresholds for those applying for a gun license, by standardizing "training requirements for individuals seeking a license to carry" and requiring "live firearm training."
Ruth Zakarin, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, said the bill is a step in the right direction. "I'm excited to know that there's movement," she told WBZ-TV. "For me it's about urgency. The trauma is happening now. People are bereaved now."
Critics, however, say the bill only further confuses existing gun laws in Massachusetts and punishes lawful gun owners.
"I'm at a loss as to what this huge bill is intended to accomplish," explained Jim Wallace of the Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts (GOAL).
"If there's any gaps, it's actually in the enforcement of criminal law," he added. "There's no gaps as far as lawful gun owners. And I really take offense to that too because they're insinuating that lawfully licensed gun owners are somehow a threat and there is no evidence to support that."
The public will be welcome to testify about the bill at a public hearing on Tuesday, October 10 at 11 a.m. in the Gardner Auditorium of the Massachusetts State House.
Lawmakers who proposed the bill hope the house will vote on it by the end of the month, though similar bills in the past have failed or died as the legislative session comes to an end.
