Court/Other House News
State House News
- "An Act Relative to Habitual Offenders"11/17/11 Update.the House version does not contain any threats to lawful gun owners and is absent of the wire tapping language that concerned us in the senate version
- S.1182 “An Act Relative to the Safety of Law Enforcement Officers.” Courts Disarming Law Enforcement. Yet another problem facing law enforcement officers in the Commonwealth is a growing number of state and local courts that are forcing them to disarm before entering the court room.
- E-FA10 Issue GOAL has received a letter from EOPS/FRB in regard to the use of paper FA10 forms. They wanted us to know that going forward, the only accepted paper form will be the "official" numbered 3-part forms.
- H.3700 “An Act Relative to the Licensing of Firearms for Persons 70 years of Age or Older This bill has started moving through the legislative process. The bill was filed by Rep. Pignatelli in an attempt to correct yet another poorly written piece of Massachusetts gun laws.
- H.2400 "Youth Hunting Act" Still needs some help! Part of this bill has already passed in this years state budget, (reducing the fee for an FID card down to $25 for anyone under 18
- 10/28/11 An Act Repealing the Ban On Modern Sporting Arms. GOAL’s legislation filed by Rep. George Peterson to repeal the ban on modern sporting rifles is still held up in the House Committee on Rules.
- Boston City Council Holds
Gun Knife Control Hearing The testimony and statements heard during the public hearing were frighteningly reminiscent of past gun control hearings.
- EOPS Letter to FFL's - Once again, the EOPS letter regarding the possession and purchasing of so-called "assault weapons" is causing more confusion.
- Governor Patrick Files NIC's Legislation. GOAL currently opposes the legislation mainly because the current administration has proven itself to not be trustworthy
- 7/13/11 Thank you Rep Cabral! - Victory for Civil Rights in MA! Massachusetts' law-abiding gun owners chalked up another victory recently in late June when Rep. Antonio Cabral agreed to put his anti-gun bill (H.639) into a "study, where it will die,"
- Gun control measures ripped as misguided at hearing Senator Chang-Diaz asks MA gun owners to "accept some contraints in their personal liberty"
- Senator Brewer Comes Through for Sportsmen Again. In the recent budget deliberations in the Senate, the Senator was successful in securing two outside sections that will greatly help our youth activities.
- H.2400 "Youth Hunting Act" please help the kids and write your rep!
- E-FA10 Issue. MA is going electronic with the FA10, Updated 6/22/11 GOAL is seeking clarification as to what the new version will be.
- GOAL's H.1567 "Right to Carry" Bill. This relatively small piece of legislation seeks to completely rewrite Section 131 of Chapter 140. Section 131 is the section of law that deals with the resident License to Carry (LTC).
- 5/12/2011 H.1568 Has First Public Hearing, now it's time to "write for your rights"! Thanks to all that attended! Now it is time to write/email/and call the members of the committee, and to ask them politely to release the bills with a favorable report. Without a favorable report the bills will most like go to "study" where they will languish for another year. Please don't let this happen!
- Proposed Lowell law would tighten rules for gun owners Lowell wants to require all owners of more than five firearms in the city to store them in a locked safe or vault. Violators of the law would face up to five years in state prison or up to 2.5 years in a jail or house of correction. Fines of between $5,000 and $10,000 could also be levied on violators.
- Muzzle Loaders, good news! Last year GOAL approached the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) to repeal the regulatory restrictions on the use of break open style muzzleloaders for the muzzleloading hunting season on deer. On Thursday, April 21, 2011 the DFW seven person board unanimously voted to amend the regulations.
- MA Legislators Introduce 5 Separate Pepper Spray Bills. How many people in Massachusetts even know they can receive two years in jail for carrying pepper spray without a license?
- H.639 Representative Cabral files bill to ban bolt, lever, and pump action long guns. GOAL is following this bill very closely and will send out an alert when or if action needs to be taken.
- H.2400 Youth Hunting Bill Alert. 3/28/11 Please call your legislator and ask them to sign onto Rep Gobi's letter!
- Trapping Legislation Released. On Monday, March 14, 2011 the Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture held a public hearing on bills related to trapping and dam safety.
- Senator Chang-Diaz files S.1195, "An Act Regarding the Prevention of Illegal Trafficking and Gun Violence among the Youth of the Commonwealth." Section 13 proposes to imprison for five years any retailer who accepts or KEEPS more than 15 handguns in a one year period.
- GPS Locator Legislation. One bill that has been causing a stir on the internet is S. 1224, An Act Relative to a Study Commission on GPS Locators in Firearms.
- Two Separate "One Gun a Month" - Lawful Citizens Imprisonment Act bills filed. We have talked about this bill for a decade now and everyone truly understands what an absurd proposal it is. Just the idea of placing blame and restrictions on lawful citizens in an attempt to control the actions of criminals is ludicrous.
- MA State Rep Daniel Webster files "An Act Relative to the Sale of Firearms". This bill will curb the Massachusetts Attorney General’s authority to regulate firearms under the consumer protection laws in Chapter 93A
- New legislation. Lots of new for 2011 legislation to keep an eye on, here is our most up to date list!
- End of Legislative Session wrap up. At midnight on Saturday, July 31, 2010 the Massachusetts Legislature ended formal sessions for the year. With a few legislative items in play until the very end, GOAL was in the State House until the last gavel was dropped at midnight.
- GOAL's Civil Rights and Public Safety Act (CRPSA) has been filed! Follow our dedicated site, massgunlawreform.com for the latest news and information.
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H.2259 (First filing of GOAL's Civil Rights and Public Safety Act)
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H.4102 (Governor Patrick's "Lawful Citizens Imprisonment Act")
- One Week left in the legislative session. H.4102/H.2259 As of Monday, July 26, 2010 the Massachusetts Legislature has only one week left of “formal session”. Traditionally the last week of the session is a whirlwind of legislation.
- GOAL Update on H.4102. July 16th Update, The Governor's "Lawful Citizen Imprisonment and Profiling Act" is still in the House Committee on Ways & Means. To our knowledge they have not conducted a formal poll of the committee members in an attempt to release the bill to the House floor for a vote.
- "Citizen's for Safety" video about H.4102. "There's a video on YouTube by Citizens for Safety featuring James Mathes and a young woman attempting to dupe the public into believing they are speaking on behalf of all hunters and gun owners."
- Governor Patrick pushes pols to act on gun control, CORI reform. Patrick said he is still urging lawmakers to pass his gun control reform - a priority of his that has taken a back seat during the gaming debate.
- H.4102, is Governor Patrick now in favor of profiling? The facts are clear and evident, the Governor has either quickly changed his mind on profiling or his beliefs are selective. In either case, it is quite clear to anyone who pays attention that the Governor’s “Lawful Citizen Imprisonment Act” is indeed a “profiling” bill.
- Argument against proposed "Gun Bill" - Yes folks, it's true. Governor Deval Patrick is pushing his one-gun-a-month bill again, known as House Bill H4102, which would imprison lawfully-licensed citizens for purchasing more than one gun in a 30-day period.
- Lawmakers’ snafu delays vote on Gov. Patrick gun bill A botched legislative vote today on Gov. Deval Patrick’s gun crackdown in the Bay State means the bill is on hold once again.
- Governor Patrick blames GOAL (again) for holding up his unconstitutional legislation.“We haven’t got any tools in place in terms of how we control the flow of illegal guns, how we deal with these dangerousness hearings, which is something we have proposed, for people who commit crimes using a gun…and the gun lobby is so prominent, so present up on Beacon Hill that we can’t even have a conversation about it, a serious debate in the legislature about it and that bothers me…”
- H. 4102. DEVAL PATRICK BLAMES GOAL FOR LACK OF PROGRESS ON GUN BILL Gov. Deval Patrick blamed firearms lobbyists Monday for his gun control legislation’s lack of progress amid another murder of a child over the weekend, drawing a quick rebuke from the Gun Owners Action League, who called Patrick’s bill flawed and ineffective
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Court News
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Other Legislation News
- End of Legislative Session wrap up. At midnight on Saturday, July 31, 2010 the Massachusetts Legislature ended formal sessions for the year. With a few legislative items in play until the very end, GOAL was in the State House until the last gavel was dropped at midnight.
- H. 4687. Wind Energy Bill passes with majority vote For two days, July 13 & 14, the Massachusetts House of Representatives debated the Wind Energy Citing bill. Sadly on the second day the industry won and the environment and the citizens of the Commonwealth lost.
- H. 4703. (formerly H. 4428) Victory again! 5/27/10 CORI Bill H. 4703, Proposed Anti Civil Rights Amendments defeated at State House
- S.1580 5/7/10 Update. Extended to June 30th. Please continue to call the committee and ask for a favorable vote! Click here for contact information click here for more info on S1580
- GOAL works to define Muzzleloader Regulations. For many years hunters have been confused about what kind of muzzle loading firearms can be used in Massachusetts. Most of the confusion stems from the current regulations banning the use of so-called break open action style muzzle loaders during the primitive arms portion of the deer season.
- S.921 Judges Disarming Law Enforcement Officers On Wednesday, January 27, 2010 a piece of legislation had a public hearing before the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security that brought to light a very disturbing practice in our courts.
- H. 2288 GOAL works with Legislators to pass H.2288 “An Act Relative to Increasing Accessibility to Non-lethal Self Defense Sprays” Just prior to the Thanksgiving holidy break, the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security favorably released H.2288 “An Act Relative to Increasing Accessibility to Non-lethal Self Defense Sprays”.
- S.2210 GOAL Works with Legislators on S.2210 “An Act Relative to Sentencing Laws” On Thursday, November 26th the Massachusetts Senate took up the Crime Bill S.2210 “An Act Relative to Sentencing Laws”. Prior to the morning of the floor debate, there was nothing in the bill that gave GOAL any concerns.
- Article 97 Rep. Denis Guyer to file Industrial Development Moratorium Legislation on GOAL’s Behalf
- 501 CMR 15.00 Firearms Exhibitions, information here.
- H. 4059 "An act relative to possession of armor piercing ammunition in the city of Boston"
- H.4102 "An act to reduce firearms violence" see story above
- H.4428 is now H. 4703, see story at top of page. GOAL Files Pre-Trial Detention Bill / An Act Making Gun Law Violations subject to dangerousness hearing determinations
- H.2246 GOAL Fights Proposed Legislation To Criminalize Gun Owners With Expired Licenses
- H.34 MA EOPS proposes new Gunshow Legislation
- H.1311 GOAL Files Breaking And Entering Of A Firearms Retailer Bill
- S.964 GOAL Files Amended "Katrina" Bill
- Law Enforcement Officials hold out hope for stronger "Dangerousness" law Local law enforcement officials are hoping a bill the House passed this week to include gun felonies under the state's dangerousness statute will be strengthened when the proposal reaches a conference committee on Beacon Hill.
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GOAL News
- NES Charity Ride for "Cross-X" a great success. Yesterday's temps started off in the upper 30s as riders headed to GOAL for registration. A little chilly, but with the proper gear everyone arrived in great spirits and nobody was complaining about the weather.
- GOAL Shoot-B-Q a Tremendous Success! Approximately 100 GOAL members gathered for a great day of "Firearms, Food, and Fun" and we couldn't have asked for better weather, a nicer venue, or better food.
- John Kelly Memorial Shoot. Great turnout in memory of a friend benefitting the American Heart Association and GOAL
- City of Fitchburg continues unconstitutional licensing violations On Monday, March 8, 2010 several GOAL members contacted our office regarding a recorded message on the Fitchburg Police Department’s Firearm Licensing Unit’s answering machine. The message states that due to budgetary constraints, they are not able to accept any new firearm license applications. Citizens calling the number are asked to leave a message and when the Unit is able to process licenses again someone will contact them.
- GOAL's "Freedom Will Prevail" 2010 Banquet a great success! Read the wrap up here.
- Spring Fling Raffle! Winners! Look for our annual "Dog Days of Summer" Raffle soon, bigger and better than ever!
- Budget Alert!4/29 Update: Congratulations all! Once again our voice was heard, Representatives Straus and Peterson were successful in passing their amendments
- FA 10 Firearms transfer issues May 14th Update. As many of you know, the CHSB uploaded the FA10 form onto their website on April 30th. We just now noticed that they FINALLY updated it to a correct form that includes instructions/codes etc...
- Billerica Town Meeting Alert! May 14th Update. We win again!
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Misc. News/Other Stories
- MA Dept of Fisheries and Wildlife would like your input in how best to manage wildlife habitat areas. There are some public meetings this week, if interested click for more info.
- Hudak for Congress Campaign receives endorsement from GOAL. “I am honored and humbled that these proud defenders of liberty have given me this very strong endorsement,” said Bill Hudak. “We must all be vigilant and steadfastly protective of our Constitutional rights as American citizens, and the 2nd Amendment is one that is constantly under fire from those who wish to deny the basic right of gun ownership.
- FID/LTC Permits issued down in MA this year? The number of gun permits issued locally and statewide in 2009 was roughly one-third the total granted two years earlier, but the dramatic figures may not add up to much, police, activists and business owners say.
- Machine Guns! Lots of fun, great investments, very hard to get licensed for, and zero crime committed by licensed owners. Here's a couple of stories about Machine Gun licensing in MA from the Boston Herald.
- Let the games begin! 2010 Election News. Well 2010 as an election year certainly started off with a bang as State Senator Scott Brown won his race for United States Senator against Attorney General Martha Coakley. Since that race was settled, there has been a flurry of announcements from people concerning political offices.
- Support GOAL Rated A+ State Senator Scott Brown's bid for vacant U.S. Senate seat
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