Ineffective legislation - Massachusetts solution to gun control....

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or; 'How to stimulate fear and shut down law abiding business owners'.

Effective or excessive? Debate rages over whether gun legislation is useful and fair

Massachusetts' gun laws and regulations are confusing, contradictory and full of legal loopholes squeezing licensed business owners. They also appear to be ineffective, as the state's gun violence has steadily risen since 1998, when it was heralded for passing the "toughest" firearms laws in the country.

Yet there remains a serious push by lawmakers and other elected officials to maintain the status quo, to uphold the current guidelines without addressing the effects those policies have had on crime, gun-related accidents, and the hundreds of mom-and-pop businesses that sell firearms. The issue alarms the state's legally licensed gun owners and dealers, whose numbers have dropped significantly during what they say is an "assault on their constitutional rights.

More...



Richard Callaghan, owner of Callaghan Firearm Sales in Marlborough, shows off a recent acquisition -- a working reproduction of an English Brown Bess assault rifle used between 1715 and 1835.' :eyes:

When the federal law expires, "You'll be able to go out and buy your Uzi at Kmart again," said Barrios, Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety.

[slackmaster]

1. You could have posted this in beevul's thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x61513

When the federal law expires, "You'll be able to go out and buy your Uzi at Kmart again," said Barrios, Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety.

Utterly untrue. No KMart store has ever sold an Uzi.

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2. Mmmmmm, maybe.

"You could have posted this in beevul's thread"

Except that the inaccuracies and fear mongering are only part of the story here.

The bigger question is the effectiveness of MA firearms laws and their consequence on legitimate business owners and law abiding citizens.

Take it from someone who has had to put-up with this bull shit long enough. I have no doubt that there's a concentrated effort amongst
a core of influential bottom feeders in the MA policy making machine
that want to make firearms ownership by MA residents as difficult as possible.

[Township75]

3. Not surprising...

"Statistics provided by the state police and Executive Office of Public Safety raise questions about the clarity and effectiveness of state gun regulations, and whether the commonwealth has benefited since the rules were enacted six years ago. In fact, recent increases in gun violence and a spate of closings among gun dealers indicate the state's attempts to regulate the industry have been misguided, making it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to own weapons while doing little to suppress criminal activity. "

SNIP

"More alarming data was provided by the state police's Crime Reporting Unit, which found that gun-related homicides rose by 25 percent between 1998 and 2002. By comparison, assaults using knives and other sharp weapons, which far outnumber injuries from guns, rose by less than 1 percent during the same time frame. "

Despite what nonstop horse shit is tossed around here, like more guns = more crime, the state police and EOPS of Mass appear to have evidence of a different story.

[JayS]

4. Just out of curiousity...

...what state is Kerry from? :)