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ALERT TO ALL GUN OWNERS
Chapter 180 Part II?
It could be happening!
Recently, Gun
Owners’ Action League (GOAL) received a draft copy of a report from the
Joint Committee on Public
Safety and Homeland Security entitled
“Illegal Gun Trafficking and Youth Gun Violence: Creating Smart Strategies to
Combat Gun Violence among Youth in the Commonwealth.” This report
essentially recommends Chapter 180 Part II! (In the
report, “… State Police be assigned the duty of making periodic checks of
registered guns.”)
Below is a copy of
the letter we are sending to the Committee in response to this report. By no
means does the letter address every concern we have with the report as that
would take dozens of pages. We urge all lawful gun owners to read what the
Committee is putting forth along with GOAL's first response and prepare
yourselves for the fight that lies ahead.
Other Related
Documents
GOAL Letter to Committee members
April 2007
Dear Legislator,
Recently, Gun Owners’ Action League (GOAL) received a draft copy of a report
from the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security entitled
“Illegal Gun Trafficking and Youth Gun Violence: Creating Smart Strategies
to Combat Gun Violence among Youth in the Commonwealth.” After reviewing
the document, GOAL is greatly concerned that the recommendations put forth
in this report are a continuance of the tragic mistakes made in 1998.
Chapter 180 of the Acts of 1998 created some of the most confusing and
prosecutorial set of gun laws in the country. The vast majority of those new
laws attacked lawful gun owners and did little, if anything to address
violent crime. In fact, since its passage, the rate of gun related homicides
per hundred thousand residents has increased by sixty four
percent! (See GOAL’s report at
http://www.goal.org/news/truth.htm
)
The bulk of the recommendations in this report ignore the lessons that
should have been learned from previous attacks on lawful gun owners. We had
hoped to have been presented with some innovative ways to combat the
criminal element on our streets. Instead we have been presented with more
attacks on lawful citizens. One recommendation actually suggests that, “…
State Police be assigned the duty of making periodic checks of registered
guns.” We cannot imagine a day when law enforcement would come to our
homes to inventory our private property.
We offer this brief summary for your review. To make it easier to understand
from GOAL’s perspective, we have separated the report’s recommendations into
three categories.
I.
Recommendations that involve crime prevention.
·
Devise a public awareness campaign about the gun laws and
illegal guns.
·
Invest in the proven success of Community Policing Programs
and the Charles E. Shannon Community Safety Initiative by providing
additional funding for these programs.
·
Prohibit licensed gun dealers from employing convicted felons,
just as the dealers themselves are already so prohibited.
II.
Recommendations that hold criminals accountable for their actions.
·
Pilot “gun court” sessions modeled on the Suffolk gun session
around the state that expedites gun crime prosecutions.
·
Create a new “assault with a firearm” statute.
III Recommendations that put more restrictions or requirements on
lawful gun owners
-
Establish penalties for not
reporting a lost or stolen weapon which can be an enforceable statute to
prosecute people who knowingly transfer weapons to persons who commit
crimes. (In the report, this recommendation includes, “… State Police
be assigned the duty of making periodic checks of registered guns.”)
- Ban .50 Caliber
rifles, the Herstal Five-seveN handgun and any ammunition that could
penetrate body armor.
Gun Owners’ Action League is always willing to assist members of the General
Court to craft laws which punish those who misuse firearms. However, we
cannot stand idly by while proposals are set forth that infer we can reduce
crime by attacking the civil rights of our law abiding citizens. As Chapter
180 did nearly a decade ago, this report attempts to lay the blame for crime
at the feet of lawful gun owners.
Sincerely,
James L. Wallace
Executive Director
Illegal Gun Trafficking and Youth Gun Violence: Creating Smart Strategies
to Combat Gun Violence among Youth in the Commonwealth
Analysis of Draft
No less than ten of the report’s recommendations are aimed at further
restrictions on lawful gun owners. These are discussed here.
Report’s Recommendation: Establish penalties for not reporting a lost or
stolen weapon which can be an enforceable statute to prosecute people who
knowingly transfer weapons to persons to commit crimes. (In the report, this
recommendation includes “… State Police be assigned the duty of making periodic
checks of registered guns”).
As apparently envisioned by some members of this committee, this would mean a
penalty for failure to report a lost or stolen gun. In the past, when citizens
have reported their personal guns stolen, their licenses have been revoked or
they have been brought up on charges of improper storage (violations of C.140,
§131L). As this new recommendation reads, it expects to create a penalty for
citizens who are not clairvoyant enough to predict what the new user will do
with the guns.
GOAL Recommends: If the state wishes to encourage compliance with the
reporting requirement, they should ensure there will be no penalty for a citizen
who submits said reports. GOAL may be able to support the rewriting of the
current law to punish those who “knowingly” take part in an illegal transfer of
firearms.
Report’s Recommendation: Amend the bail statute to include possession of
an illegal gun for a judge to consider while setting bail.
This refers to the “dangerousness” standard outlined in the statute. Currently
judges already have the authority to impose high bail on the possession of
illegal firearms. In February, Superior Court Judge David A. McLaughlin ordered
a suspect be held without bail because he was found to be in possession of an
illegal handgun.
GOAL Recommends: If it is found that any changes to state law are
warranted, it must be carefully worded in order to protect the civil rights of
gun owners. The legal maze created by Chapter 180 in 1998 has left lawful gun
owners confused as to what is expected of them. The GOAL Foundation would be
happy to devise a program for the state to require of judges and ADA’s of Gun
Courts to help them understand nomenclature, and the safe and lawful use of
firearms.
Report’s Recommendation: Complete development of an interactive gun
registration database information sharing network to be utilized by both state
and local law enforcement entities.
Massachusetts implemented mandatory reporting of sales and transfers
in the late 1960’s. Nothing contained in the enabling legislation authorized the
creation of a database of this material, though such a database exists. Further,
the Commonwealth does not require every gun to be registered, and the writers of
this report conveniently forget this basic fact.
GOAL Recommends: That a study be conducted to determine the effectiveness
and costs of the last forty years of licensing and reporting in relation to
preventing or solving crime. To date, no data has been made available that links
the mandatory licensing of gun owners and registration of their property with
crime prevention.
Report’s Recommendation: Implement an effective secondary gun market
registration system, including enforcement of requirements to register secondary
market sales transactions by both buyers and sellers. (The report says “The
failure to enforce this law means that many law-abiding citizens are unaware of
this requirement.”)
The writers of this report contend that the majority of citizens
are failing to record the sale and transfer of guns as they are required by law
(Chapter 140, Section 129C). The report apparently blames the supposed lack of
compliance on the fact that the state doesn’t punish enough people for breaking
the law! In other words, the report is suggesting that the way to educate
citizens is to put some of us in jail and then the others will learn!
GOAL Recommends: Enforcing the strict penalties that are already in place
for illegal transfers and possession. If the criminals who are taking part in an
illegal firearm market are severely punished, then the appetite for illegal
firearms will quickly dwindle. We would also ask the state to provide hard
evidence of these infractions.
Report’s Recommendation: Penalize violators of registration laws
consistently, in particular those who are found to have sold or had “stole” or
“lost” guns to unlicensed persons.
This recommendation implies that the lawful gun owners are a willing source of
guns for criminals and gang members. If there is any substantive proof of this,
we ask the committee to bring it forward.
GOAL Recommends: That any willing participants of illegal activity be
investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the current laws.
Report’s Recommendation: Require that gun sales forms be signed under the
pains and penalties of perjury.
GOAL Recommends: Simplifying all of the processes required by the current
laws so that the average citizen can easily understand what is expected of them.
We would also ask the committee to come forward with the evidence available that
proves that citizens are intentionally putting false or misleading information
on reporting forms.
Report’s Recommendation: Design interstate compacts with surrounding
states to utilize gun registry and ballistics information.
It is certainly understandable that law enforcement should be able to share
information regarding crimes, criminals, and crime guns. However this report
implies that national trace data should be available to the public. As we
understand critical data is already made available to law enforcement. In an
attached letter from the Fraternal Order of Police,
they explain the importance of not providing this type of information to the
general public. We are also attaching a report issued by GOAL concerning “crime
guns”. In this report it makes it clear that the vast majority of so-called
“crime guns” were never used in a crime.
GOAL Recommends: If it is determined that such a system is beneficial to
the prevention of crime, that it not include data on lawful citizens or the guns
they own. Since there is no proof that licensing and firearm registration has
any affect on reducing crime, other states should not be encouraged to invade
the privacy of their citizens.
Report’s Recommendation: Close the “Illegal Gun in the House Loophole” so
that traffickers are no longer protected because the guns are discovered in
their homes or places of business.
The state created the Bartley-Fox law in 1974. At that time a public awareness
campaign warned gun owners that it was important to have a license for a gun.
However, those public relations campaigns have not been conducted for many
years. Not a week goes by that our office does not receive a call from a friend
of a family where an elder veteran, or his widow, is found to have a gun in the
home that they wish to lawfully remove from the home. We believe there are
probably thousands of older citizens, or new residents, which do not understand
the state’s licensing requirements. As an example, New Hampshire, Maine,
Connecticut and Rhode Island do not require citizens to have a license merely to
possess a gun in their home.
Chapter 269, §10(a) was amended about ten years ago to indicate that the
exemption does not excuse a person from being licensed in the first place. No
one has reconciled the exemption with the “ought to be licensed” language
contained at the section of (a).
GOAL Recommends: The state’s gun laws be completely redrafted in a manner
that respects the rights of lawful citizens, created understandable and sensible
laws, clearly separates criminal activity from unintentional ignorance of the
laws.
Report’s Recommendation: Ban the bulk purchasing of firearms in
Massachusetts.
This is a clear example of the report writers getting confused about the
difference between lawful purchase and illegal gun sales. Under the current
state and federal laws, a person wishing to lawfully purchase a handgun in
Massachusetts must meet the following requirements.
-
The individual must possess a
License to Carry Firearms under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 140,
Section 131. (A felony is an automatic lifetime disqualification for this
license.)
-
The handgun that is to be
purchased must meet the manufacturing requirements of 940 CMR 16.00 and MGL
Chapter 140, Section 123. These regulations and laws restrict the makes and
models of handguns that can legally be sold in Massachusetts.
-
The handgun must also meet the
requirements of MGL Chapter 140, Section 131M which bans the possession,
sale or transfer of high capacity magazines.
-
If the handgun is owned by a
private citizen in another state, the handgun must be transferred to a
federally licensed dealer (18 U.S. Code 923).
-
Once in the possession of the
dealer, the handgun information must be placed in the dealer’s permanent
records (Bound Book - 27 CFR 178.125).
-
Then the firearm must be
transferred to a licensed dealer in the state of Massachusetts. The dealer
must be licensed under federal law (18 U.S. Code 923) and state law (Chapter
140, Section 123). Again, the handgun information must be recorded in the
in-state dealers Bound Book.
-
The proposed Massachusetts buyer
must then appear in person to the Massachusetts Dealer and present their
valid License to Carry a firearm and identification.
-
The buyer must complete a federal
form ATF 4473 answering question about 17 different questions regarding
their status as a qualified individual.
-
The dealer must also fill out a
state form FA-10 which contains the information of the seller/dealer, the
buyer and a description of the firearm. The form must then be signed by the
purchaser.
-
If more than one handgun is being
purchased within a five day period the dealer is required to fill out BATFE
Form 3310 and submit a copy to the BATFE and the state agency in charge of
licensing before the close of business.
-
The dealer must then conduct a
background check on the proposed buyer through the National Instant Checks
System.
-
If the dealer is equipped through
the new Massachusetts Instant Records Checks System (MIRCS), the buyer must
submit to a digital scan and recognition of their fingerprints.
-
If all the checks have passed,
the dealer must instruct the buyer on the safe use and operation of the
firearm and provide a tamper resistant mechanical locking device that has
been approved by the Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police.
-
If all of the above steps are
met, the transaction may take place.
GOAL Recommends: Since GOAL has never been provided any evidence that
straw purchasing is a problem in Massachusetts, we can only conclude that
placing any further restrictions on lawful gun owners is an attempt to punish
them as a cover for the inability of government to properly and affectively
address crime. That being the case, we recommend that any further attempts to
punish lawful citizens be stopped immediately.
Report’s Recommendation: Require minimum standards for electronic
security systems for dealers’ shops.
GOAL believes that it is a dealer’s best interest to protect his inventory.
However, we are cautious about unfunded government mandates and that such a
proposal will only be used to drive even more lawful gun dealers out of
business.
GOAL Recommends: If the General Court believes this is an important step
in reducing criminal activity then an educational and funding program be created
to assist lawful gun dealers. This program should be paid for by general tax
dollars and not an additional burden for lawful gun dealers or their customers.
Report’s
Recommendation: Banning .50 Caliber rifles, the Herstal Five-seveN handgun
and any ammunition that could penetrate body armor.
Since no laws that ban specific types of guns has ever proven to have any affect
in stopping or preventing crime and there is no proof that they ever will, this
type of approach only serves the interest of special interest groups that wish
to ban guns entirely.
GOAL Recommends: No further bans be enacted. We further recommend that
since the current bans have not had their desired effect, that all current laws
banning certain types of guns be repealed.
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