If you thought Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s midnight raid on Bay Staters’ gun rights — banning the sale of all “assault rifles” with the stroke of a pen — was a clear infringement on the United States Constitution and an abuse of her powers, you’re right! If you thought Massachusetts legislators would right this wrong, you’re wrong. From masslive.com:
Massachusetts’ entire congressional delegation and 19 Massachusetts mayors have come out in support of Attorney General Maura Healey’s interpretation of the state’s assault weapons ban.
“This is a common sense step to not create a new law but enforce a law that’s been on the books for many years to make sure we don’t have military style assault weapons in the hands of people in our streets and in our communities,” said Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse.
New law, old law, at this point, what difference does it make? Given the political support for banning the sale of AR-15-style firearms, there’s only one way Massachusetts gun owners can roll back this insult to their Second Amendment protections: the courts.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is filing a lawsuit against Healey’s perfidy. Massachusetts judges have a long-standing antipathy to gun rights. The odds of the NSSF being successful are somewhere between slim and none, and Slim just left town.
This despite the simple, inescapable fact that the expanded “assault weapon” ban has sweet FA to do with Massachusetts’ crime rate. As the aforementioned Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse acknowledged — and then dismissed. In a pre-crime kinda way.
Opponents of the ban point to 2014 FBI data showing that not a single homicide that year was known to be committed with a rifle in Massachusetts. There were 33 homicides by handguns and 48 by unknown firearms.
Morse said that data is “not the point,” and Massachusetts should be proactive in preventing gun violence. “It’s another opportunity for Massachusetts to lead, to take action before something does happen and we look back and say if only we had taken action, if only we had courage to stand up and enforce something that’s already on the books,” Morse said.
Yup, it’s ye olde “if it saves one life…” routine. A routine too far for TTAG’s Ralph, who’s busy plotting his Bay State escape. How many more will follow? The ballistic bifurcation of America continues. Unabated.