Massachusetts AG Decides to Dictate Gun Law

By Dean Weingarten

Maura Healy AG Massachusetts
Maura Healy AG Massachusetts
Dean Weingarten
Dean Weingarten

Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- The Attorney General of Massachusetts, Maura Healy, has decided that she can dictate law without recourse to the legislature or the courts.  She has decided to unilaterally change the definition of what is and is not an “assault weapon” in the law.

Crimes committed with all rifles are exeedingly rare in Massachusetts.  2014, is the lastest year we have records for in the FBI Uniform Crime Report. In 2014, no murders with rifles of any kind, let alone “assault weapons” were recorded in Massachusetts.

Yes, you read correctly.  Zero.  Ziltch. Nada.  If there had been a single crime committed in Massachusetts with one of the rifles that AG Healy does not like, she would have shouted it to the world.  She did not. In 2014, there were 3 murders recorded with hands and feet, and 34 recorded with cutting instruments in the State of Massachusetts.

Before the ineffective Clinton “Assault Weapon” ban expired in 2004, Massachusetts enacted a virtually duplicate law at the state level.  There is no indication that the state law was any more effective than the failed Clinton law.  The law has been in force in Massachusetts for over 30 years now.

But AG Maura Healy doesn’t like the law.  She claims that it is not restrictive enough.  There have been virtually no problems with these firearms in Massachusetts, and minimal problems nationwide (there were only 248 murders committed with *all* rifles in 2014, out of 11,961 total murders.

The state that had the most murders with rifles was California, with 40 in 2014. California has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation, particularly restrictive of so called “assault weapons”.

Healy could lobby the legislature to amend the law.  She might succeed.  Massachusetts is notoriously irrational when it comes to weapons laws.

But she is impatient.  She is not willing to use due process. From the bostonglobe.com:

That will end now. On Wednesday, we are sending a directive to all gun manufacturers and dealers that makes clear that the sale of these copycat assault weapons is illegal in Massachusetts. With this directive, we will ensure we get the full protection intended when lawmakers enacted our assault weapons ban, not the watered-down version of those protections offered by gun manufacturers.

The directive specifically outlines two tests to determine what constitutes a “copy” or “duplicate” of a prohibited weapon. If a gun’s operating system is essentially the same as that of a banned weapon, or if the gun has components that are interchangeable with those of a banned weapon, it’s a “copy” or “duplicate,” and it is illegal. Assault weapons prohibited under our laws cannot be altered in any way to make their sale or possession legal in Massachusetts.

Her assertions are absurd. They could have been alleged anytime in the last 20 years.  They would have been thrown out of court because they do not describe what the law clearly states.  There is a reason that the silly “assault weapon” ban was sun set.  The academic research is clear.  It did nothing to measurably reduce crime, or crime with the particular rifles mentioned, in part because the numbers of those rifles used in crime were already incredibly low.  Any small, non-measurable reduction was offset by switching to other weapons that were not banned.

Healy’s argument is absurd.  She states that the rifles she has an irrational distaste for have no use in civilian hands.

They are weapons used to commit mass murder. And they have no business being in civilian hands.

Then why are they in the hands of most police departments in the United States? Police *are* civilians.  They are not military.  If they need these incredibly useful and versatile self defense tools, then so do responsible and peaceful citizens.

These type of rifles are particularly well suited for use by self organized citizen militias in time of societal break down. In America, citizens self organize in times of natural disaster or “man made” emergencies.

Healy is getting her 15 minutes of fame. There will likely be little followup when a court strikes down her dictatorial decree as unlawful.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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Vlad Rap

Skipping Dog – Police may not be exclusively civilian but not necessarily military either. Quasi seems to be the right definition.

SkippingDog

Words mean what they mean, regardless of what you might personally prefer. Civilian has long been defined as anyone not in the military or on a police force. Whether you agree with that is as irrelevant as whether or not you agree with the theory of gravity or the First Law of Thermodynamics.

Eric_CA

quasi-
ˈkwāˌzī,ˈkwäzē/
seemingly; apparently but not really.

“Quasi-military” is not really military, but more like a civilian. Hence, police are more civilian like and subject to many of the same laws.

With that said. I think it’s shameful that this happened where the birth of the American Revolution took place. The Boston Massacre was the flash point that gave birth to America. And for this tyrannical beyotch to have such disregard for the rule of law is down right shameful and maybe treasonous too.

oldshooter

The argument frequently used to justify banning civilian ownership of AR platform rifles and “high capacity magazines” revolves around the idea that this type of rifle was specifically “designed for war,” and to “kill as many people as possible.” This is patently untrue and absurd on its face, but gets wide acceptance by the less gun-savvy public, probably because it LOOKS similar to the military M-16 rifle and M-4 carbine. In fact, the AR (which stands for “Armalite Rifle”-all the Armalite company’s rifle models were designated “AR-something”) was designed specifically for the civilian market, and especially for the varmint and… Read more »

B.Zerker

Correct Mr. Weingarten! The court(s) will have no other option but to strike down this usurpation. The Constitution, which every civil servant swears to protect and defend, clearly states in Article I, Sec 1, that: ‘All legislative powers shall be vested in congress…’ This means that an AG has no ability to make the law. Furthermore, Article VI, Clause 2 undeniably states that the U.S. Constitution is the “Supreme Law” and Marbury v. Madison dictates that ‘Any subservient law(s), or any part(s) thereof, that contradict the constitution’s guarantees, are fictions of law and null and void.’ So not even the… Read more »

Ranger 3

@Cetlek, The Mass Ag is no better than me making up law, but she is abusing her position. You know how those criminals have “flash robberies” where they coordinate by smart phone to show up at the same store, and everybody takes something because the crowd of people is so overwhelming. The people of Mass could have a flash Civil Rights party at the AG’s office and then do what ever there because the crowd is so overwhelming. If you planned it in advance and used forums to coordinate, it would not work because governments monitor the web.

Tionico

@Thom paine not a redefinition, an outright refusal to acknowledge. WHere is her oath of office? She should be hammered for perjury, the swearing of an oath then deliberately violating it. The US Constitution clearly outlines the three distinct branches of government and the extent of each one’s authority. SHE pledged to uphold that, but is now clearly tossing it aside.
I would love to see some serious action in the new administration going after such clowns that so blatantly violate their owths of office. Make it so they can never hold any office under the public trust again.

Tionico

Skipping God, the main difference between civilian (even police) and military is this: military ARE NOT free to come and go as they please, and cannot “quit”. They sign up for their term, and are as bound slaves until that term is ended. No way out. On the other hand, civilians can change jobs, residences, move overseas, retire or quit those jobs at will. There is nothing binding them beyond their own desire to eat and sleep out of the rain. Check the copyright dates of those two dictionaries, I’ll lay high stakes at very long odds they are very… Read more »

Thom Paine

Good hemp rope, and big bonfires would sure solve a lot of problems wouldn’t it?

Murphy

Where is the ” lawful ‘ authority to issue new law , by the AG , and ignore legislator ? Looks like a BROAD mis-interpretation of alleged powers.

LostSalmon

The point here is, if our country becomes so overrun with corruption and violence, how are we suppose to counter tyranny without like weaponry? At some point, are our LE going to call on the civilians to help them out and defend the constitution? Are going the people of Massachusetts going to have to say, “Sorry but we can’t help you because the state of Massachusetts took all our Ar’s and AK’s”? These rights, to whatever guns are necessary to defend ourselves, are locked into our constitution. There is no debate. There is no compromise. Our brilliant founding fathers knew… Read more »

Jeff D. Shirley, Mass.

This time Healy and her dildo shot there utopia load! Enjoy it while it lasts Butch because it won’t last long! I live in Mass. and this is the last straw. This is so illegal it isn’t even funny. If I didn’t know better I would say she or he is pandering/rehearsing to be Swillarys running mate! They remind me of a couple of left over Patty Dukes!!

Mals

Cuomo did this in New York. People did not comply.

Saoirse

Regarding the shooting in FL, S.W.A.T takes 3 hours before going in, the police officer who was at the scene right as it was going down doesn’t go in. So the guy has free reign to kill whomever and it is the fault of the weapon he uses? You don’t understand a thing and you don’t write law.

Mike Bemis

I live in ma I’ll go north kiss my ass Healy . I’ll also buy whatever I want when I want . U gona ban ref trucks too? B.s no due process in ma. We need help from nra goal and anyone else to sue this jerk

MrPotatoHead

First, regarding the Oxford, we’re not British. As for Merriam-Webster, the recent, lazy, linguistic activism of academic lefties notwithstanding,… —————— Quote ————————- Civilian \Ci*vil”ian\, n. [From Civil] 1. One skilled in the civil law. [1913 Webster] Ancient civilians and writers upon government. –Swift. [1913 Webster] 2. A student of the civil law at a university or college. –R. Graves. [1913 Webster] 3. One whose pursuits are those of civil life, not military or clerical. ————————- End Quote ———————– As for the progressive, new Merriam-Webster, there was no good reason to recently change that definition to neglect the meanings of the… Read more »

SkippingDog

80% of military jobs are non-combat positions, and approximately 10% of all military personnel ever see combat. Those numbers held true during our recent wars in the middle east. I’m never clear on why or how this “police are civilians” thing comes up, but I can’t help but think it has something to do with some felling of elitism.

LSUGene

Get ready folks, the Communist Democrats are taking over and they are going to dictate lo the populace when you can breathe and when you can defecate.

We need to return to the times of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Elect Killery and we’ll have a bunch of Communist Bitches the deal with.

SkippingDog

There are also quite a large number of police officers who’ve spent the last decade and more working with the Foreign Police Assistance programs in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor, and other little hellholes around the world. Quite a large number of police officers have also served in active duty billets during our recent wars, often for years at a time. I know of at least two who were KIA. I understand that the military distinguishes between their own civilian police and MP’s, primarily because one group is subject to the UCMJ and the other is not. Nevertheless, the… Read more »

MrPotatoHead

I’ll clarify my previous comment and make it more specific. Civilians are subject to civil laws and enjoy the many freedoms of civil lives. Members of our military forces are bound by military laws and are subject to having little or virtually no constitutional freedom for long periods of time. Even in training, forced under military justice, the inescapable, 24/7 duties of some military personnel are brutal worlds apart from civilian environments. There are few exceptions. Some DEA and CIA agents have subjected themselves to being the paramilitary exception at times and did fit the definition during those times.

SkippingDog

I encourage you to look up the word “civilian” in either the Webster or Oxford dictionaries of the English language. You’ll find that it is defined as “a person not in the armed forces or police force” (Oxford) and ” a person who is not a member of the military or of a police or firefighting force (Merriam-Webster).

I don’t know where you came up with the story about TV writers.

SkippingDog
MrPotatoHead

That’s incorrect, Skippingdog. Police departments are “quasi-military” organizations, as taught in a police academy and learned by one who did many overnight, weekend patrols alone for some 6,000-7,000 residents without backup (unpaid reserve). In other words, they may resemble military personnel in some superficial ways (e.g., sheriff, chief, or four-star general as indicated by self-assigned rank?), but civilian police are civilians. They’re free citizens and are not bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. They don’t train for unrestrained combat against foreign enemies under laws of international warfare, and they won’t closely accompany soldiers on combat missions in the… Read more »

Jerry Frazier

FU Healy. I’ll buy what I want, when I want and bring it anywhere I choose. How about you stay out of the State due North of you?

SkippingDog

Police are not “civilians.” Police departments are paramilitary organizations with specific duties and exemptions under the law that are not available to non police individuals.