**Governor Patrick Files New Gun Control Legislation**

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May 06, 2009 - For immediate release:

PATRICK-MURRAY ADMINISTRATION FILES BILL TO REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE IN THE COMMONWEALTH

Legislation seeks to reduce supply of illegal guns, increase penalties and comply with federal requirements

BOSTON– Wednesday, May 6, 2009 – Continuing Governor Deval Patrick’s efforts to reduce gun violence and strengthen public safety, Public Safety Secretary Kevin M. Burke today announced that the Patrick-Murray Administration has filed a bill to give police and prosecutors more tools to tackle illegal gun use and make the Commonwealth a safer place to live, work, and raise families.

“We see and feel the effects gun violence has on our families and our communities throughout Massachusetts – and we must do everything in our power to help prevent it,” said Governor Patrick. “This legislation gives law enforcement the critical tools they need, and sends a very strong message that illegal gun use will not be tolerated.”

The Governor's legislation addresses a decision issued by the Supreme Judicial Court on May 4. The SJC held that so-called 58A dangerousness hearings, the court procedure that allows prosecutors to ask judges to hold dangerous criminal defendants without bail, does not apply to charges of illegal possession of a firearm. Governor Patrick's bill makes this procedure available to prosecutors for charges that involve illegal possession, use, or trafficking of guns.

In addition, the Governor’s legislation makes it a felony to possess a gun while committing certain crimes that might otherwise be misdemeanors, and removes the requirement that state prosecutors must prove a gun is operable to be considered a firearm, a change that will bring state law in line with the federal regulations.

“Our law enforcement officers do great work making our streets safe using the tools they have,” said Public Safety Secretary Kevin M. Burke. “This gun legislation helps take some of the criminal firepower off the streets and builds in a layer of protection for us all by giving the courts the right to detain anyone who uses a gun to commit a crime – even if it’s a misdemeanor.”

"The changes to the state's gun laws are a common sense approach to providing police officers and court officials with more powerful tools to maintain the safety of our residents by keeping criminals and guns off the streets,” said Mayor Thomas Menino. “Through this tough approach, we address where the guns come from and make it harder for criminals with guns to suffer only misdemeanor charges."

"Of about 1500 firearms seized and traced in Massachusetts two years ago, more than 1200 came from another state with gun laws more lax than our own," said District Attorney Dan Conley. "But more than 20% of those traced guns came from right here in the Commonwealth, and that means we still have work to do here at home."

Specifically, the legislation would:

Gun Reforms

* Limit gun purchases to one gun a month in order to reduce gun trafficking by “straw purchasers” who purchase firearms for convicted felons or other prohibited buyers.



* Create a new crime (10-year felony) for possessing a gun while committing a misdemeanor that involves the use of force.



* Upon motion by the district attorney, the legislation allows defendants charged with possessing, using, or trafficking illegal firearms to be held without bail pending trial. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled on May 4th that current statute does not allow for pre-trial detention for charges involving illegal possession of a firearm. The Governor’s legislation clarifies the current statute, giving prosecutors the tools they need to help end the cycle of violence and retaliation.



* Change definition of “firearm” to parallel federal law, relieving Commonwealth from proving that gun is operable.

Secondary Gun Sales


* Requires individuals who resell their guns to conduct the transaction at a licensed dealer so that the transaction can be entered into the electronic firearms database for better tracking of secondary sales.

Machine Gun Reforms


* Clarifies laws to prohibit anyone other than a person with a machine gun license or a police officer receiving training from handling a machine gun.
* The Secretary of Public Safety and Security will promulgate new regulations to prohibit use of machine guns at gun shows or exhibitions and to narrow definition of “bona fide collector.”

Brady Bill Changes


* Requires transmission of court records of involuntary commitments to state central criminal record repository for inclusion in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), and otherwise amends state law to comply with federal NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007.
* This provision will ensure the Commonwealth does not lose valuable federal grant funding.
 
Clarifies laws to prohibit anyone other than a person with a machine gun license or a police officer receiving training from handling a machine gun.

so if you touch it (or look at it with a dangerous intent) and are not a cop/have MGL... you go to jail

Create a new crime (10-year felony) for possessing a gun while committing a misdemeanor that involves the use of force.

and.... you dont actualy have to USE the gun to get in trouble for it...
 
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* Create a new crime (10-year felony) for possessing a gun while committing a misdemeanor that involves the use of force.

WTF?

So, if you're attacked my someone while carrying, and you throw a punch and end the attack, you are now a felon because you had a gun on you when you got into a fist fight?
 
Time to impeach Deval for violating his oath of office to uphold the COTUS.
 
So I should start looking for a job in NH while I contact my State Reps?

Glad I found mine, this keeps getting worse.

Perhaps this is their new plan... they see how hard we fight back and have decided that if they keep trying to shove legislation down our throats we will be too busy fighting it to buy guns or go shooting?
 
WTF....This is insane and illogical.

Now let me see, the act of straw purchasing is illegal anyway, so lets' stop law abiding LEGAL licence holders from buying more than one a month to stop CRIMINAL from doing the same. This is such convoluted logic... Bad guys don't buy guns from stores!

As for the create a new crime (10-year felony) for possessing a gun while committing a misdemeanor that involves the use of force... that's nuts too! How does that impact the escalating use of force in a conflict? Someone takes a swing at me, I'm not going to necessarily pull a firearm, but I could return like force in self defense. Then what? I get busted and I'm a felon and my gun never broke cover??

FUBAR...
 
Yeah, but how likely is it the other guy is going to say that he attacked you? Once you have two sides to a story, you get two different stories, and if there aren't witnesses, or ones they trust at least, giving your side too, you could be charged anyway.
 
So basically they are trying to do away with FTF transactions (which will essentially end the transactions of any non-compliant guns) and trump up these BS laws that they still will not enforce when the defendent is some "troubled" youth from Dorchester who is the real victim.[sad2]
 
Licensed dealer?

What about this provision??????

* Requires individuals who resell their guns to conduct the transaction at a licensed dealer so that the transaction can be entered into the electronic firearms database for better tracking of secondary sales.

So if I want to sell from my collection I'll have to pay some dealer a transfer fee? WTH. And what about purchasing at a gun show.
 
Create a new crime (10-year felony) for possessing a gun while committing a misdemeanor that involves the use of force.

So....I wonder how they would handle me beating the crap out of someone in self-defense instead of drawing down on them (use the least amount of force necessary to stop an assault I believe is the context of what is self defense is) I wonder how many CCW people will get charged with a 10 year felony as a result of my perceived grey area of that statement?

Maybe I am thinking too much into it...
 
This state sucks.

I'm sick of them coming for me and not going after actual criminals.

I'm need to take my skilled self and my highly skilled wife and go earn decent incomes somewhere else.

We get closer and closer. My wife doesn't really shoot much but she can see through bullshit like this.
 
Aren't they considered firearms now?
Stripped frames - no; not sure about populated frames.

Some dealers will sell you a frame on a 4473 without concern for the "list" or AG regs for this non-firearm, whereas others will voluntarily pretend the frame is a firearms under state law out of an abundance of caution.
 
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