DeLeo did rule out taking action to address Attorney General Maura Healey's administrative action to crack down on the sale of what she has described as copycat assault weapons that have slipped by the thousands through a loophole in the state's 18-year-old assault weapons ban.
Gun rights activists have been stepping up the pressure for the Legislature to block Healey's enforcement actions and many lawmakers have written to the state's top prosecutor requesting clarity or questioning her authority. Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr on Friday filed legislation that would strip Healey of her authority to regulate gun sales, leaving that task to the Legislature.
DeLeo said he told the members about a letter Judiciary Committee Co-Chairman Rep. John Fernandes wrote to Healey this week seeking additional information on how her interpretation of the law will be enforced and asking her to point to where in statute or the constitution she derived her authority to act.
"No, I don't believe that we'll be taking any action in the House. Members have strong feelings on both sides of the issue and first of all, there's no possible way that we could have an issue such as a gun debate be debated and acted upon within two days," DeLeo said.
DeLeo said he needs to do more reading before forming an opinion himself on Healey's authority to reinterpret the assault weapons ban.
"My feeling is ultimately I believe that there is going to be someone, probably the Gun Owners Action League if no one else, who is going to take this to court and probably ultimately it will be the courts who decides as to whether she had that authority," DeLeo said.
While the House plans to resume votes overriding many of the governor's budget vetoes on Saturday, DeLeo said he hasn't made a decision on Baker's veto of an outside section that would have mandated health insurance coverage for long-term antibiotic treatment of chronic Lyme disease, a controversial method of treatment that has not been universally accepted in the medical community.
Baker vetoed the bill this week, and filed an alternative compromise bill that he said would ultimately guarantee coverage of "clinically proven treatments" of the tick-borne disease after a review by MassHealth.
DeLeo said he plans to speak with lawmakers on both sides of the issue this weekend before deciding whether to pursue a straight override of the governor's veto or to consider the governor's alternative legislation.