Mass AG drops the bomb

[Dvan34]

Unfortunately I live in the People's Republic of Kalifornia which has just approved several anti-gun laws and submitted them for the Novemeber Ballot. Hopefully they will not be approved but I doubt that will stop them from enacting them. The 9th Circuit has come out against CCW recently. Along with CA,under the 9th Circuit are AZ, WA. Oregon and Nevada. Offically nothing has changed - yet.

 

[TTSH]

The legislature is in session this weekend. This might end up on the agenda.

Big rally at the statehouse Saturday morning... so it's entirely possible that it will come up.

I'll be there making noise (as usual). Look for the little, round, gray bearded old man with the blue walker.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

If it is a true WASR-10 (so marked) and not just some earlier Model 63 variant, then by definition it is post-ban (post-1994) rifle... even though some will tell you that it's entirely possible it was originally manufactured prior to 1994.

So get ready to go to prison under the new decree with the rest of us Ben. Trust me, you won't be lacking for company.

I was more interested in, if it was pre-ban I could get an obscene price for it fraid it is post ban

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

One thing that is unsure at this time, if you have an ILLEGAL RIFLE, even though the AG may not prosecute that doesn't stop individual DA's or Police from arresting you. Here is a list of things to think about from my club.

•

Overnight the Attorney General has unilaterally turned hundreds of thousands of lawful citizens into, what we are calling, "Felons in Waiting". While the AG has "graciously" stated that: "…will not be applied to possession, ownership or transfer of an Assault weapon obtained prior to July 20, 2016." It does not mean that she can't change her mind tomorrow or that some other entity cannot use it against us, such as local licensing authorities that use the new rules to declare an applicant unsuitable for renewal. For all of you that bought these guns yesterday because of this rule… you must have missed the fine print, (prior to), guess what, she got you!
• Remember, her decision to not prosecute is only a "promise". We have no written protections in law or regulation!
• Regardless if she promises not to prosecute, she has emphatically accused all of us of committing a felony for utilizing what she calls a "Loop Hole" to buy a "duplicate gun".
• Members have asked "what should they do with their guns"? It really does not improve anyone's situation by getting rid of any guns. She has stated that you have already committed a felony by getting it in the first place.
• Members have asked "can they bring their guns to the range"? Again, the AG has already said you are a felon in illegal possession of certain guns. If you travel with it, you risk being in possession in public with a declared illegal gun.
• The MA laws regarding "assault weapons" are as follows:
o Definitions: Chapter 140, Section 121
o AW Ban: Chapter 140, Section 131M
• Penalties for violating the MA AWB: "for a first offense, by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than ten years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and for a second offense, by a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $15,000 or by imprisonment for not less than five years nor more than 15 years, or by both such fine and imprisonment."
• Without a doubt, regardless of how she tries to spin this, this is a NEW interpretation of our laws.
• The NEW rules ban all semi-automatic rifles that accept a detachable magazine and potentially some shotguns and handguns. (Not lawfully possessed prior to September13, 1994.)
• All transactions of approved weapons have been done through the consent of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS). These have been done by means of the old paper FA-10 forms or the Massachusetts Instant Record Check System (MIRCS).
• None of the governors or attorney generals since 1998 have ever mentioned that the status quo for the guns we were purchasing there was a problem. So the only conclusion is that this NEW rule is either a lie or the last 18 years of approved transfers have been a massive entrapment case spanning four administrations.
• Statutory authority to promulgate regulations regarding the gun laws lies with the Secretary of EOPSS. If the governor wished to, he could promulgate emergency regulations to set the record straight and protect hundreds of thousands of citizens

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I just heard an interesting thought on another forum that has 4,000 posts in the gun ban thread in 24 hours.

It may be tinfoil hat but he felt we could see the next step being a 30 day amnesty to turn in the illegal guns followed by full scale confiscation and extreme prison sentences.

 

[GaryS]

Take due notice thereof, and govern yourself accordingly.

I just heard an interesting thought on another forum that has 4,000 posts in the gun ban thread in 24 hours.

It may be tinfoil hat but he felt we could see the next step being a 30 day amnesty to turn in the illegal guns followed by full scale confiscation and extreme prison sentences.

 

[garddogg56]

This is why Maine succeded from M*******CUECETTS IN 1820

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Take due notice thereof, and govern yourself accordingly.

Hiram do you travel to the East?

 

[les.b]

In 4 or 5 months, the most important election season of our lives as gun owners will be upon us. The shaky 4-4 balance of the Supreme Court is going to be readjusted after the presidential election. Situations like the unfortunate one there in Massachusetts may be heading to SCOTUS. Heller and McDonald may be revisited, and as we saw in the recent rebuff of an appeal of a semi-auto ban by the now evenly balanced court may just be the start of unraveling the good and hard work that so many of us have labored over for so many years, and those who came before us. The freedoms enshrined in our constitution are literally up for grabs.

If you don't belong to the NRA, now is the time to join!! If you belong, upgrade. Lee has arranged this wonderful deal for all of us: http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-...4-nra-life-membership-500-ends-july-31st.html but it is only good for the rest of July. We need numbers to combat the antis.

They have deeper pockets than we do. Michael Bloomberg has pledged to spend at least $50,000,000.00 (yes, that's 50 million dollars) on trying to elect anti Liberty candidates. But he is not the only Billionaire with deep pockets aligned against us. A lot of those dot-com guys, who have a spare Billion or so are throwing money into the mix.

We are all we have!!! This "Mess in Mass" is only going to be the beginning if we don't stick together. This is a fight we can't afford to lose.

I know that we are not supposed to talk politics here, so I am not mentioning any candidates by name or party. I have for many years split my vote among those candidates who support our constitutional rights. Sometimes it's a Democrat, sometimes a Republican. We must not lose the Supreme Court!!!

Please forgive me, I cannot stay silent, support the NRA and your state affiliates. Here in West Virginia, we have had a very good year, we now have constitutional carry, and a host of other reforms. The NRA and other gun rights organizations have done a wonderful job of educating our state legislature, and they in turn did great work.

Sorry to go on and on, but I can't think of anything more important right now, and it applies directly to the situation there in Massachusetts.

Best Regards, and thanks for reading and bearing with me, my heart goes out to you folks there in Massachusetts...your friend... Les

 

[McE]

Massachusetts should really just consider passing a law that makes shooting other people not in self-defense illegal or something.

 

[SweetMK]

Massachusetts should really just consider passing a law that makes shooting other people not in self-defense illegal or something.

When I moved to MA in 1979,,, there were BIG signs posted along the interstate at the entrance to MA that stated

"Possession of a handgun will result in a mandatory one year jail sentence"

or something like that,,,,

Those signs were enough to convince me to move out of MA as soon as possible,,, (1982)

I wonder if those signs (or laws) still exist?

 

[TTSH]

I wonder if those signs (or laws) still exist?

The signs are long gone and the 1976 law (Bartley-Fox) has been essentially ignored by prosecutors for most of the last 40 years. Massachusetts loves to pass meaningless laws. 99.9% of the people ever initially charged under Bartley-Fox never went to jail for a year like the law specified. The charges were always either negotiated or plead down to some lesser offense or dropped altogether. It was all a big bluff.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

This ban is a solution in search of a problem. In the last 5 years that have been 750 gun murders in MA, only 2 of them were rifles and neither of those was one of these weapons, meanwhile there were 35 people beaten to death with hands and feet! Not to mention kitchen utensils, a pressure cooker.
Right now I am very leery about taking any semi-auto to the range since there may be an over zealous officer who sees me.

 

[TTSH]

One thing that is unsure at this time, if you have an ILLEGAL RIFLE, even though the AG may not prosecute that doesn't stop individual DA's or Police from arresting you.

I'm hoping for a test case on this to materialize very quickly. From what I have read so far, this bizarre "reimagining" or "redefining" of the MA AWB law will not stand up in court. Of course, for now, everyone is on edge about their new "Felon in Waiting" status.

It may be tinfoil hat but he felt we could see the next step being a 30-day amnesty to turn in the illegal guns followed by full scale confiscation and extreme prison sentences.

This will not fly. The woman has already over-stepped her authority by a country mile. I believe it is all a big bluff. To go any farther she would have to involve other (sane) persons and law enforcement agencies to participate in a big, ugly way. It ain't gonna happen.

Take due notice thereof, and govern yourself accordingly.

And store your newly illegal guns out of state before they come looking for you.

 

[gasaman]

Big rally at the statehouse Saturday morning... so it's entirely possible that it will come up.

I'll be there making noise (as usual). Look for the little, round, gray bearded old man with the blue walker.

I'm there too....

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

This should not fly, but Gov Rino Baker has come out supporting her although he wants "some clarification"

We will see if they limit this to ARs and AKs or as it is written all semi's. It would be bad enough if it was just going forward, the retroactive change of a law is dangerous

 

[johngalt]

(vi) any semiautomatic rifle that cannot accept a detachable magazine that holds more than five rounds of ammunition;

OK - how many Semi Auto rifles have you seen that cannot accept a magazine capable of holding more than 5 rounds?

Does mean that all semi autos that can accept a detachable magazine are in fact illegal, and the AG is correctly interpreting the law?

Or is that just one of multiple features that must be present for it to be illegal.

If the first situation, it seems that the problem is the law, not the AG. The AG is obligated to enforce the law as written. I would have thought we would had heard more before now if the law really does ban all semi autos.

If it is the second, then that is a huge problem. The AG shouldn't be able to create new law out of thin air.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

She was upset that the manufacturers were "getting around the law" by following the letter of the law and making sure that they only had one evil feature.
She has said that we cannot look at the cosmentics but how it operates and here are her words

"... a weapon is a Copy or Duplicate, for example, if the operating system and firing mechanism of the weapon are based on or otherwise substantially similar to one of the Enumerated Weapons."

It doesn't matter what the gun looks like, whether it has a monte carlo stock it is how it operates internally. There are two tests, either or both can be true, the second one is "it has parts that can be interchanged with one of the enumerated weapons i.e. Assault Weapons. But it only takes one to be true, so that is why we and GOAL and the NRA are saying this actually traps ALL semi-autos

 

[nocents]

To the unfortunate residents of Mass. ...is your Governor utterly without any stones??...what about your elected legislators which she has just given the one finger salute??......elections have consequences

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Our "R" Gov is a rino and a sheep, he said he supports her but wants some "clarification" he would also like a "list" of the banned guns. Right now the AG's list is a double secret list, there are features she doesn't like but they won't put what guns are not allowed in writing so we or the dealers have no idea what is legal and what is not. The Legislators for the most part are ticked off about this usurpation of their power but I cannot get my Senator to get back to me.