#Massachusetts

Through 2023, Massachusetts’ Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced the state’s new Gun Violence Prevention Unit, part of the state’s plan to crack down on firearms crime. How’s that working out? Let’s check into a recent press release from the ATF, describing a sentence handed out for stealing three guns.

Smith & Wesson have announced that they will be relocating their headquarters to Tennessee in the mid-2020s but will retain operations in Springfield, Massachusetts. The company, founded in the 1850s, has long made Massachusetts its home.

Don’t even get me started on the firearms that police are issued. Some officers in the Los Angeles Police Department are still training with Vietnam War-era M16 rifles. Fortunately, some departments have the funds to upgrade their duty guns. The Massachusetts State Police is one of those departments. They have now adopted the wicked cool Smith & Wesson M&P45 M2.0 as their official duty handgun. That 4/5th guaranteed to lean ya man.

Those of you in ban states can celebrate as there is a new concealed carry option now being made available to you that comes with its own blaster – the Jolster from Black Arch Holsters. The Jolster is an ambidextrous, Kydex open-ended holster that allows users to carry their jolt gun cocked with a round loaded in the muzzle. This holster bypasses H.R. 127 and H.R.8  and no background check or transfer fee is required! Huzzah!

Smith & Wesson‘s parent company  American Outdoor Brands Corp. have announced that they plan to close the firearms manufacturer’s distribution centre in Springfield, Massachusetts. Smith & Wesson’s warehouse and distribution operation will be moved to a new facility in Missouri.

The Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) based in Northborough, Massachusetts, recently uncovered a letter set to be sent from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to all Massachusetts License To Carry (LTC) permit holders. The letter explains that “Retention of a prohibited item [bump stock or trigger crank] beyond the 90 day grace period will expose the owner to criminal prosecution”. The letter also states that possession is illegal even a private home. Essentially, residents are being forced to surrender bump stocks without exception.

Blogging about laws are generally not much fun but sometimes the impact on our little corner of the universe is noteworthy and unavoidable. Back on July 20th Pete blogged about the Attorney General of Massachusetts’ clarification as to what they consider “copy” or “duplicate weapons to those that are already prohibited by current state law. Governor Charlie Baker and his Public Safety Secretary, Daniel Bennett, sent letters to the AG with a simple request to clarify her position.

When the Attorney General of Massachusetts decided to reinterpret a two decade-old law, essentially banning the sale and transfer of most semiautomatic rifles in the Commonwealth, law-abiding citizens were made to feel like criminals overnight. Whereas Massachusetts currently has a law that essentially mirrors the now defunct Federal “Assault Weapons” ban that was in place from 1994 to 2004, modern sporting rifles could still be purchased as long as they met the law’s guidelines.

I am going to have to tread very lightly here to steer clear of a full-blown article on politics. But, news is news. The Attorney General of Massachusetts is announcing that neutered “assault weapons” currently sold in the commonwealth without features like flash hiders, bayonet lugs, collapsible stocks and magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds will no longer be available for sale.

From the press release: