Massachusetts Supreme Court Tanks another RKBA Case

Click here to read the decision.

On Tuesday June 4, 2013 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) handed down a decision in a case called Mirko Chardin vs. Police Commissioner of Boston (SJC-11196). The case stems from a 1995 case where on January 19, 1995, Mr. Cardin was charged in the Juvenile Court with one count of possession of a firearm without a license, and one count of unlawful possession of ammunition. On April 18, 1995, Chardin admitted to sufficient facts and was adjudicated a delinquent child with respect to both charges. He received a suspended commitment to the Department of Youth Services, was released to his mother's custody, and was given probation until April 18, 1996.

Senate Amendment Update

MA Senate Votes Against GOAL's Effort To Investigate Massachusetts' Broken FID/LTC Licensing System.

GOAL would like to thank Senator Knapik (pictured at right) for his efforts including addressing the Senate floor on behalf of this important amendment. It is unfortunate that the rest of the Senate does not care to look into this system which is now beyond repair. Senator Michael Knapik of Westfield had filed the amendment to the FY2014 Senate budget on behalf of GOAL. The amendment would have instructed the Massachusetts Inspector General's Office to conduct a thorough investigation into the failure of the Massachusetts firearm licensing system.

Gun Related Homicides Up 100% Since 1998

5/17/13. For instance, in 1998 when the new laws went into effect there were 63 gun related homicides. As of the latest ISP report for 2010 there were 126 gun related homicides, double that of the year of the Gun Control Act! In 1998 there were 96 gun related assaults that resulted in a Hospital Discharge. In 2010 there were 267 nearly triple the number when the Gun Control Act was passed. The WRISS system has a Firearm Related Assault Injury category. In this report in 1998 there were 291 and in 2009 (the latest available) there were 464.

The facts are clear that the Massachusetts gun laws have been a complete failure and that certain people are simply not willing to admit it regardless of how much hard evidence we supply. One piece of this is very interesting is the fact that what the Dept. of Public Health is providing the public is considered anecdotal!? We wonder if that counts for other issues they cover?

MA Legislators Range Day

GOAL's annual FSED a tremendous success!

GOAL invites every MA legislator to attend and has seen a significant increase in attendance every year. As a matter of fact, Jim Wallace, GOAL Exec. Director reports that the day is often the topic of discussion in the MA state house year round and especially in the weeks leading up to, and following the event.

After a safety briefing by GOAL Executive Director Jon Green the attendees were sent in groups to the skeet range, the trap range, the pistol range and the rifle range where they received instruction for each discipline from GOAL's experienced volunteer instructors.

Sudbury: Anti Second Amendment Article Defeated at Town Meeting.

5/9/13 Update: Victory!. After nearly an hour of debate, Annual Town Meeting voters defeated an article seeking to significantly restrict where guns could be fired in town.

The good citizens of Sudbury soundly defeated the anti-Second Amendment article that came to vote last night - preserving their right to lawfully discharge a firearm within town limits.

GOAL Rally on the Common in Support of the Second Amendment!

4/4/13

Gun Owners Action League Rally: Tremendous Turnout!

Well over 1,500 residents of the Commonwealth turned out on a clear but cold day in downtown Boston exercising their First Amendment Right of Free speech in defense of their Second Amendment Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Several media outlets and helicopters looked on as patriots peaceably formed on the Boston Common and continued with a march to the State House. Folks from Pittsfield to Provincetown made the trek along with homemade signs and banners and a spirit that even the most zealous of anti freedom politicians could not break.

Among the many speakers were GOAL’s own Jim Wallace, Jay Beard, Robert Pepi, and Steve Moysey as well as special guests Yang LI, the Second Amendment Foundation’s Alan Gottlieb and Illinois State Rifle Association’s Rich Pearson. Moysey proudly claimed “I went from British subject to American Citizen!” as Li likened many of the proposals to the actions taken by the Chinese government prior to the Tiananmen Square protests.

2013 Report on Gun Crime Rates Since the Passage of the 1998 Gun Control Act

Where is the Evidence of Gun Control Success?

Ever since the passage of the gun control laws in 1998 the proponents of the Act have gone around the nation extolling the success. The problem is … what success? They tell the media that the laws here work because Massachusetts has some of the lowest gun death rates in the nation. The problem for their success argument is when one compares Massachusetts to Massachusetts. When fair comparison is done it is clear that the gun laws laws have been an abject failure.

Pepper Spray Hearing.

4/4/13 Update, Pepper Spray Bill Hearing. On Thursday, April 4, 2013 H. 2145 An Act Relative to Non-lethal Self Defense Sprays was heard before the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. H. 2145 was filed on behalf of GOAL by State Representative Kim Ferguson of Holden, MA. The bill seeks to do away with the licensing requirement for defensive sprays in the Commonwealth. It would do so by removing these sprays from the legal definition of “ammunition” and creating a new legal definition for: “Defensive Spray” shall mean tear gas cartridges, chemical mace or any device or instrument which contains or emits a liquid, gas, powder or any other substance designed to incapacitate.”

GOAL Asks Governor Patrick for EOPS Oversight.

3/22/13

Gun Owners' Action League has contacted the office of Governor Deval Patrick today via formal letter asking that he correct recent erroneous statements made by the state of Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPS).

This week, it came to GOAL's attention that EOPS had released incorrect information regarding Massachusetts laws which regulate the possession of large capacity feeding devices also known as "magazines".

GOAL Excluded from MA. "Gun Control" Task Force

Massachusetts House Speaker Announces Gun Control Task Force

On Wednesday, March 13, 2013 Massachusetts Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo announced the members of his gun law task force. The Speaker stated earlier in the year that he wanted to put together a panel to review the states gun laws and come up with any suggestions.

Several weeks ago the Speaker had announced that Northeastern University Associate Dean Jack McDevitt would chair the task force. The latest announcement finalized the task force with the following individuals:

GOAL’s Annual Breakfast and Meeting of the Membership has a tradition of being a snow magnet, and looking at the forecast this year we were wondering if this year would follow tradition.  Luckily the snow gods decided they liked other parts of the country and left us alone until well after the meeting had adjourned.

GOAL would like to thank all of our members who took the time to attend.  The meeting, required by our bylaws is important in that we share with our membership our yearly report which covers financials and other important information.

GOAL Organizational Rally

GOAL would like to thank everyone that braved a stormy New England Winter morning to attend our organizational rally this past weekend at the Boxborough Holiday Inn.

Despite the cold, snowy and blustery morning we had a full room of members in attendance who are eager to provide momentum to our civil rights restoration efforts.

The day began with a greeting from GOAL President of the Board of Directors Jay Beard (pictured above) and a quick note of thanks to all in attendance and an update on the current raffles (Polaris Ranger and Big Bang) that are currently running.

Mandatory Insurance Requirement = Back Door Gun Grab

1/21/13

In recent weeks we have been deluged with legislative proposals attacking our Second Amendment Civil Rights in the wake of the horrific murders in Connecticut. One such proposal has been mandatory liability insurance for anyone lawfully owning any type of gun. Lawful gun owners rightfully consider this to be simply another way to tax gun ownership. They are of course correct on that assumption, but this proposal goes much deeper and is much more insidious!

1200+ Concerned MA Citizens Rally at State House

1/19/13 Boston MA.

Travelling from near and far, by the car load and alone, some with children, many with signs and all on the same message - "stop punishing the law abiding" a crowd of approximately 1,200 - 1,500 concerned citzens rallied on the State House stairs today.

For years Massachusetts residents who lawfully own firearms have endured abusive restrictions and regulation which do nothing to lower crime and in fact have had the opposite effect.

Today, in the shadow of more legislation introduced over the last week by Governor Patrick and Rep. Linsky, many concerened citizens said "enough" and stepped out into the light to make their voice heard and to say "no more".

1/4/13 Gun Control Meeting Update

Brief Summary by GOAL Exec. Director Jim Wallace:

As it turns out although GOAL was not invited to the Gun Control meeting hosted by Rep. David Linsky at the State House, I was allowed to listen in, but due to the packed room I was forced to listen from the hallway for most of the meeting.

There were several members of the law enforcement community present including Wayne Sampson of the Mass Chiefs of Police. John Rosenthal was on hand to provide is typical sound bite rhetoric. Angus McQuilken, former Chief of Staff for Senator Cheryl Jacques sponsor of the 1998 Gun Control Act, was on hand to provide his “experience”.

The Truth About “Assault Weapons". In the United States today Americans lawfully own an estimated 20-30 million rifles which are commonly used and often misconstrued by the media, politicians, and gun control advocates as “assault rifles”.

Here are some facts about these rifles. Thanks to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) for some of the facts below: (note that the NSSF has labeled these rifles “Modern Sporting Rifles” (MSR).

Also note: there is an estimated 100 Million lawfully owned rifles of all types in the United States.

President Obama - Second Amendment Issues
10/17/12 Obama suggests he would seek to revive ban on assault weapons. (Reuters) - Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney engaged in a rare tussle over gun control on Tuesday, and Obama opened the door to pushing for a ban on assault weapons if he wins a second term.

During their second election debate, both men largely danced around a gun-control question, a reflection of how they are wary of offending voters who support gun rights.

However, Obama did say that he would back an assault-weapons ban like the one President Bill Clinton signed in 1994. That law expired in 2004 without being renewed by Congress.

Romney signed such a ban (not true - GOAL) as governor of Massachusetts, but he has indicated that he would not support banning assault weapons as president. He did not say why his stance is different now, but in winning the Republican nomination he courted conservative voters who generally oppose gun restrictions, and he was endorsed by the influential National Rifle Association.

Click here for more on the Obama Administration

"Fast & Furious - BATFE - Obama Administration Scandal

10/1/12 WH Aide Involved in Fast and Furious Was 'Suddenly' Transferred to Iraq; Issa Threatens Subpoena. Kevin O’Reilly, a member of the White House National Security Staff who regularly communicated about Operation Fast and Furious with the Arizona-based ATF agent responsible for running the operation that allowed guns to flow to Mexican drug cartels, was suddenly transferred out of the White House and into Iraq in July 2011.

The transfer took place shortly after the ATF agent had testified in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the White House had provided the committee with a series of emails that O’Reilly and the agent had exchanged while Fast and Furious was underway.

7/26/12 Federal Ammunition Sales Regulation: A Proven Failure. Recent calls for federal regulations and restrictions on ammunition sales ignore the failure of such laws in the past. They also ignore the impracticality of imposing and enforcing similar controls in today's huge ammunition market. The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates that 10-12 billion rounds of ammunition are produced domestically each year, while billions more are imported.

The Gun Control Act of 1968 required federal licensing for all ammunition dealers, and required that a record be kept on all handgun ammunition sales by retailers—including the popular .22 rimfire cartridges. The requirements proved to be such a heavy burden on retailers that in 1982, Congress removed .22 caliber rimfire ammunition from the record-keeping requirement.