In Support of Massachusetts Gun Laws

All,

Let me shed a little light on this.

The author is a friend of mine who as you have surmised is young and is new to the shooting community. He is mistaken on many points in his article of this there can be no doubt.

He and his father were students in my Basic Pistol Course some time ago and have been recently licensed. I'll be quite interested in learning his source for some of the details.

I have heard John lament the anti-gun atmosphere that he finds himself in on a regular basis. I admire his willingness to go public and stand for his beliefs. John has requested training as an RSO and instructor in order to volunteer his time to teach shooting Merit Badges and is himself and Eagle Scout.

I will be seeing him in the next couple weeks and will offer him a membership here on my nickle but I must say that I offer that with a little trepidation.

Even with my credentials as noted in my signature I find myself scratching my head over MA laws. There are at least three lawyers we all know and love who concentrate entirely on gun laws which speaks volumes about the level of complexity within these laws. Many posts here offer opinions where the person posting specifies IANAL simply because there are few of us who feel strongly enough about the interpretation of the laws to feel our comments are on solid ground.

It is people like John who are willing to stand up who can be educated and coached by the rest of us that are the future of the 2A.

I will offer him a membership to NES and can only hope that he will be welcomed and not ridiculed for his attempt to stand up and be heard.

-Rick
 
Rick,
It's a noble and generous gesture! I think everyone agrees that his heart is in the right place and we just have a little work to do on the facts. Bring him on and lets have another guy on our team!

Birdman
 
See I do not read this as a anti 2nd...I see this as a young poorly informed college student in a very liberal college swimming against the strong current....I did not grow up in a gun owning home and my mom thought guns were bad...still does...went to school with that mind set.
I think we have a kid with a rational that it is not guns but it is the people that commit crimes that are bad. With a little bit of experience and information, I feel he can be put on the right track...hopefully he takes the invite

I don't see it as anti 2nd either just missed the facts like so many other reporters when they write and especially when they give descriptions.[grin]
 
See I do not read this as a anti 2nd...I see this as a young poorly informed college student in a very liberal college swimming against the strong current....I did not grow up in a gun owning home and my mom thought guns were bad...still does...went to school with that mind set. I think we have a kid with a rational that it is not guns but it is the people that commit crimes that are bad. With a little bit of experience and information, I feel he can be put on the right track...hopefully he takes the invite

Bingo!

After reading his OP-ED or essay (not sure where it was published or posted) in its entirety, I came to the same conclusion as you. This is a young person, though ill-informed about MA laws/regulations, (just as many of us are) is still advocating the right to bear arms. He needs support, not nonconstructive criticism.

Perhaps someone could take him under their wing and invite him to a range? Teach him gun safety first, then explain how the myriad of conflicting and confusing gun laws in MA only work to deny law abiding citizens their Constitutional right to bear arms. Perhaps show him how MA gun laws discriminate against law abiding citizens yet do nothing to protect MA citizens against criminals who, by their very nature, don't give a crap about any laws, let alone gun laws.

This kid no doubt has friends, and those friends might also be enticed into going to a firing range. And those friends may have friends..... It's the exponential theory. Who knows. With enough students advocating the right to bear arms, they may even ignite a campus movement. Ya never know where these things can go.

I give the kid an A+ for effort. He just needs some support in the way of enlightenment about MA gun laws and perhaps some shooting time at a range.
 
. . .
I will offer him a membership to NES and can only hope that he will be welcomed and not ridiculed for his attempt to stand up and be heard.

-Rick

If your friend arrives and instructs us on our wrongheadedness, he probably will get a very "warm" reception [shocked]

On the other hand your description sounds like a good guy that was fed some bad info. He'll be welcomed by me at least.
 
All,

Let me shed a little light on this.

The author is a friend of mine who as you have surmised is young and is new to the shooting community. He is mistaken on many points in his article of this there can be no doubt.

He and his father were students in my Basic Pistol Course some time ago and have been recently licensed. I'll be quite interested in learning his source for some of the details.

I have heard John lament the anti-gun atmosphere that he finds himself in on a regular basis. I admire his willingness to go public and stand for his beliefs. John has requested training as an RSO and instructor in order to volunteer his time to teach shooting Merit Badges and is himself and Eagle Scout.

I will be seeing him in the next couple weeks and will offer him a membership here on my nickle but I must say that I offer that with a little trepidation.

Even with my credentials as noted in my signature I find myself scratching my head over MA laws. There are at least three lawyers we all know and love who concentrate entirely on gun laws which speaks volumes about the level of complexity within these laws. Many posts here offer opinions where the person posting specifies IANAL simply because there are few of us who feel strongly enough about the interpretation of the laws to feel our comments are on solid ground.

It is people like John who are willing to stand up who can be educated and coached by the rest of us that are the future of the 2A.

I will offer him a membership to NES and can only hope that he will be welcomed and not ridiculed for his attempt to stand up and be heard.

-Rick

I came across the article online while searching for something else, and I thought I'd share because it's just one more example of gun laws that no one can seem to figure out.

Another thing, I recall a few posts where Scrivener was wrong on the gun laws, WRT the legality of SBS's in Mass. and BAC while carrying a gun. How sad is it when a seasoned Massachusett's firearms attorney still doesn't know all of the gun laws? When police departments, the crew at the CHSB, and everyone else in charge of administering and enforcing the laws can't make heads or tails out of it?

I would like to see the author become a member here so that he can learn, because he has the ability to reach a greater audience than most of us here.
 
Another thing, I recall a few posts where Scrivener was wrong on the gun laws, WRT the legality of SBS's in Mass. and BAC while carrying a gun. How sad is it when a seasoned Massachusett's firearms attorney still doesn't know all of the gun laws? When police departments, the crew at the CHSB, and everyone else in charge of administering and enforcing the laws can't make heads or tails out of it?

I have an acquaintance of many years who spent 10 years on MSP, and at least as many now with the FBI. He has a JD. When I asked him a question about Mass gun laws, he just said, essentially, "forget it ... I wouldn't presume to know the Massachusetts gun laws well enough to give advice... won't even try."

I think there are many aspects of these laws that will be decided case by case in courts. I think the laws were written to be esoteric, arcane, unfathomable and deliberately vague. I think that we Massachusetts gun owners have been played, and will be played again.
 
I think there are many aspects of these laws that will be decided case by case in courts. I think the laws were written to be esoteric, arcane, unfathomable and deliberately vague. I think that we Massachusetts gun owners have been played, and will be played again.

Bingo.
 
I have an acquaintance of many years who spent 10 years on MSP, and at least as many now with the FBI. He has a JD. When I asked him a question about Mass gun laws, he just said, essentially, "forget it ... I wouldn't presume to know the Massachusetts gun laws well enough to give advice... won't even try."

I think there are many aspects of these laws that will be decided case by case in courts. I think the laws were written to be esoteric, arcane, unfathomable and deliberately vague. I think that we Massachusetts gun owners have been played, and will be played again.

Oh, you've met the people who wrote these laws too?

I have and I think that I understand exactly what they were attempting to do, and they succeeded. [rolleyes] [thinking]
 
I think there are many aspects of these laws that will be decided case by case in courts. I think the laws were written to be esoteric, arcane, unfathomable and deliberately vague. I think that we Massachusetts gun owners have been played, and will be played again.

Have to agree. After recently been denied for my LTC-A, I was also told by the interviewer, that if denied for the above, LTC-B and FID are also automatically denied. There's a strange curve. The lawyer will get all.
 
Since when can you not use a gun for protection due to the license type? If one has an FID and a shottie, and bad guy kicks in the door...der.
 
The uninformed writer needs to stick to topics he knows about.

What a radical idea. Imagine the trees that would be saved, and how quiet the world would be, if this admonition were applied generally.

Do you think the Internet could survive?
 
I came across the article online while searching for something else, and I thought I'd share because it's just one more example of gun laws that no one can seem to figure out.

Another thing, I recall a few posts where Scrivener was wrong on the gun laws, WRT the legality of SBS's in Mass. and BAC while carrying a gun. How sad is it when a seasoned Massachusett's firearms attorney still doesn't know all of the gun laws? When police departments, the crew at the CHSB, and everyone else in charge of administering and enforcing the laws can't make heads or tails out of it?

I would like to see the author become a member here so that he can learn, because he has the ability to reach a greater audience than most of us here.

n00b question here- I've gotten most of the acronyms here - what's SBS?
 
Short
Barreled
Shotgun

The term “short-barreled shotgun” means a shotgun having one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length and any weapon made from a shotgun (whether by alteration, modification or otherwise) if such a weapon as modified has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.

Short
Barreled
Rifle

The term “short-barreled rifle” means a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length and any weapon made from a rifle (whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise) if such weapon, as modified, has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.

Any
Other
Weapon

The term “any other weapon” means any weapon or device capable of being concealed on the person from which a shot can be discharged through the energy of an explosive, a pistol or revolver having a barrel with a smooth bore designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell, weapons with combination shotgun and rifle barrels 12 inches or more, less than 18 inches in length, from which only a single discharge can be made from either barrel without manual reloading, and shall include any such weapon which may be readily restored to fire. Such term shall not include a pistol or a revolver having a rifled bore, or rifled bores, or weapons designed, made, or intended to be fired from the shoulder and not capable of firing fixed ammunition.

Destructive
Device

1) any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas, (A) bomb, (B) grenade, (C) rocket having a propellant charge of more than 4 ounces, (D) missile having an explosive charge of more than 1/4 ounce, (E) mine or (F) similar device.
--

Curios
& (and)
Relic

National
Fireams
Aact
 
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Greetings All,

I posted this response at the time that the original post was new.....

All,

Let me shed a little light on this.

The author is a friend of mine who as you have surmised is young and is new to the shooting community. He is mistaken on many points in his article of this there can be no doubt.

He and his father were students in my Basic Pistol Course some time ago and have been recently licensed. I'll be quite interested in learning his source for some of the details.

I have heard John lament the anti-gun atmosphere that he finds himself in on a regular basis. I admire his willingness to go public and stand for his beliefs. John has requested training as an RSO and instructor in order to volunteer his time to teach shooting Merit Badges and is himself and Eagle Scout.

I will be seeing him in the next couple weeks and will offer him a membership here on my nickle but I must say that I offer that with a little trepidation.

Even with my credentials as noted in my signature I find myself scratching my head over MA laws. There are at least three lawyers we all know and love who concentrate entirely on gun laws which speaks volumes about the level of complexity within these laws. Many posts here offer opinions where the person posting specifies IANAL simply because there are few of us who feel strongly enough about the interpretation of the laws to feel our comments are on solid ground.

It is people like John who are willing to stand up who can be educated and coached by the rest of us that are the future of the 2A.

I will offer him a membership to NES and can only hope that he will be welcomed and not ridiculed for his attempt to stand up and be heard.

-Rick


The author is very approachable and we had a chance to talk last weekend. I offered him an NES membership which he accepted and he is now green on the forum as jkthree.

I would encourage you all to welcome him as he is learning and perhaps even acknowledge that he stood in public (At UMASS no less) and spoke his mind in defense of the 2A.

-Rick
 
The author is very approachable and we had a chance to talk last weekend. I offered him an NES membership which he accepted and he is now green on the forum as jkthree.

I would encourage you all to welcome him as he is learning and perhaps even acknowledge that he stood in public (At UMASS no less) and spoke his mind in defense of the 2A.

-Rick

I got to meet John this past weekend as well. He's one of the good guys. Go easy on him. [smile]
 
Short
Barreled
Shotgun

The term “short-barreled shotgun” means a shotgun having one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length and any weapon made from a shotgun (whether by alteration, modification or otherwise) if such a weapon as modified has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.

<snip...>

thanks, and sorry for the hijack. Is there a thread with all this glossary info that I've missed somewhere?



I would agree with the sentiments posted here- let's find ways to support and encourage the OP to gain more knowledge and understanding, and use his voice constructively.
 
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