Mass. needs to tighten up its gun laws

[SecularMotion]

BOSTON (AP) -- Massachusetts has some of the nation’s toughest gun laws but can do more to reduce violence and keep firearms away from people with criminal backgrounds or mental illness, according to a task force established after the massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

The panel created by House Speaker Robert DeLeo said in a report released Monday that Massachusetts should require background checks for most private firearms sales, increase penalties for failing to report lost or stolen guns, and tighten regulations on rifle ownership.

Other recommendations include a more consistent and uniform approach to firearms licensing and training requirements, tax credits for the purchase of gun safes, and two-way communication from schools to municipal police for use in emergencies.

The state also was urged to join a federal program by transmitting information about people who might be unsuitable to own a gun because of substance abuse or mental illness.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_25052378/report-mass-needs-tighten-up-its-gun-laws

[MannyGoldstein]

1. People don't realize what a hell-hole this place is for gun enthusiasts

Massachusetts: nanny-state gun control FAIL

And now they want to make it worse?

[hack89]

2. Rhode Island is much more gun friendly.

an attempt at an AWB was quickly shot down last year.

[Eleanors38]

13. Not bad in hell-hole Vermont, either.

[NYC_SKP]

3. I don't have a problem with most of these things...

background checks for most private firearms sales,

increase penalties for failing to report lost or stolen guns,

tighten regulations on rifle ownership??? --not sure what this means

more consistent and uniform approach to firearms licensing and training requirements,

tax credits for the purchase of gun safes,

two-way communication from schools to municipal police for use in emergencies.

join a federal program by transmitting information about people who might be unsuitable to own a gun because of substance abuse or mental illness.

[friendly_iconoclast]

4. Note, please, that the OP elided this small detail from the linked article:

Last edited Fri Feb 7, 2014, 03:11 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_25052378/report-mass-needs-tighten-up-its-gun-laws

Massachusetts law currently allows both a Class A and a Class B license. The Class B license allows an individual to carry a non-large-capacity firearm, and that firearm may not be concealed. The Class A License allows the licensee to carry a concealed firearm for protection.

The report said that since Massachusetts is not a state where gun owners routinely carry their firearms in the open, the state should eliminate the Class B license.

Explained rather more succintly in the Boston Globe:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/02/03/panel-recommends-that-mass-tighten-gun-laws/YNPQ2JTQtAjoqR9rWHbK2M/story.html

The panel members said they also learned that current law gives too much discretion to police chiefs to deny gun licenses to “unsuitable persons,” so they recommended that the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association help develop a tighter definition for that term.

For the most part, police chiefs invoke the “unsuitable persons’’ language to deny licenses for handguns. The panel recommended that police chiefs be allowed to apply that standard to buyers of rifles and shotguns, who are exempt.

Umm, not just no, but HELL NO. This approach was recently deemed unconstitutional in Illinois,
so if this is tried here in Mass it will certainly be challenged in Federal court- the Second Amendment
Foundation and/or the Gun Owners Action League will see to that.

They may very well win. I certainly hope so- 'may issue' laws violate both the Second and
Fourteenth Amendments.

A Class A license requires the approval of police. Eliminating Class B licenses would mean
that all gun purchases will be at the whim of a politician with a badge.

[NYC_SKP]

6. Thanks for the details, I'm not surprised. Pretty typical dishonesty on the part of journalists.

And others.

[friendly_iconoclast]

8. Some gun prohibition advocates would prefer that we not notice their activities...

...and falsely believe they are going unobserved. They are making
the same mistake the Denver Broncos did:

Believing their own PR. We are neither stupid nor forgetful...

[Eleanors38]

14. Catchin' a little whiff of Jim (large, raucus black bird) in Mass.

[sarisataka]

5. On the surface it sounds like good ideas

I do question the extending checks to most private sales... is this the next "loophole"? why not just extend it to all sales

Tightening rifle and shotgun sales seems to mean all firearms sales will go through the police chief who may deny sales to "unsuitable persons" Maybe someday "unsuitable person" will be defined... If that isn't a recipe for abuse of power I don't know what is

I am quite surprised they do not use NCIS. One would think a state so strong on gun control would want as many resources as possible to check potential buyers.

[ManiacJoe]

7. Complying with current laws is helpful.

The state also was urged to join a federal program by transmitting information about people who might be unsuitable to own a gun because of substance abuse or mental illness.
...
Massachusetts law be changed to prevent a convicted felon from receiving a firearms identification card, and any federally prohibited person be denied the ability to acquire any firearm.

[beevul]

9. Retitle it 'Gun violence panel says "fuck due process".'

From the 'piece':

The panel also recommended closing what it sees as a loophole in state law that allows people who may have been arrested repeatedly without being convicted to obtain a firearms identification card to purchase a rifle or shotgun even though they can be denied a handgun license.

Due process. Its so old fashioned.

[friendly_iconoclast]

10. If they try it, it WILL end up at the US Supreme Court

Which might just bring about the end of 'may-issue' laws.

And that's a good thing...

[beevul]

12. Whether they try it or not, it speaks to their mindset...

And what it says isn't good by any measure or standard.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

11. Mass has issues...

...in the form of a huge NICS hole. Page 12 of the MAIG Fatal Gaps report indicates MA has, at that time, only a single mental health report into the FBI database. Note that PA, another state with a single report, is an NICS participant in the "Full Point of Contact" mode. Many low reporting states have highly restrictive privacy laws regarding all things even remotely health related. PA overcomes this by Full POC participation. FFLs in Full POC states contact a state agency with access to in-state mental health and criminal records which may not have, for whatever reason, been reported to the FBI. The state agency also has access to the NICS.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics/general-information/participation-map



The green states in the map are out the NICS loop. FFLs contact the FBI directly. Any of these green states with highly restrictive privacy laws, like PA, will have the same hole as MA.