I went to the UU Mass website, where they're rallying anti-gun folks to go to the hearings. They have a link there, where if people can't attend the hearings, to fill in a form and submit a letter/email to legislators. Here's the boilerplate email:
I am writing as your constituent to urge you to play a leadership role in passing meaningful legislation to reduce gun violence in Massachusetts. More than 30,000 Americans lose their lives to gun violence every year in this country, including more than 2,800 children, and more than 200 of those killed each year are residents of Massachusetts. Since the Sandy Hook School massacre of 20 innocent children and six courageous educators on December 14, 2012, more than 3,300 men, women and children have senselessly lost their lives to gun violence in America. Massachusetts has been a leader in reducing gun violence, but there is more we can and must do to prevent the ongoing tragedies that are impacting far too many of our families and communities.
As you consider gun violence prevention legislation, please ensure that the following principles are addressed:
1. Universal background checks for all gun purchases, including private sales
2. A strengthened background check system
3. A suitability standard for all gun licenses, with discretion for local licensing authorities
4. Prohibition of high-capacity magazines and military-style assault weapons
5. Improved law enforcement training and enforcement, and stronger penalties for gun-related crime, including failure to report lost and stolen guns and trafficking of firearms
Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Let's take a look at these one-by-one, shall we?
1. Universal background checks for all gun purchases, including private sales
We have this already in MA. Anyone buying a gun must show an LTC or FID card. In order to HAVE one of those, one must have already gone through stringent background checks, fingerprinting, and met 'suitability' requirements of their local chief of police.
2. A strengthened background check system
See #1. Tell us again how criminals pass these checks, please.
3. A suitability standard for all gun licenses, with discretion for local licensing authorities
You're
****ing kidding me, right? We are the "poster state" for this nonsense. At least the discretion part. There IS NO standard, and that's a big damned part of the problem! It's purely subjective.
4. Prohibition of high-capacity magazines and military-style assault weapons
We already have this. Although when I built my AR last year, the VERY FIRST THING I bought for it, was pre-ban 20-round mags. So how's that 'prohibition' working out? My AR is also not considered an "assault weapon" (no muzzle device, non-adjustable stock, etc.). I assure you, however, that it is just as (perhaps more-so as my rifle is uber-accurate), potentially lethal as any rifle that DOES have any of the extra-super-killy features that would re-define my rifle as an "assault" anything.
5. Improved law enforcement training and enforcement, and stronger penalties for gun-related crime, including failure to report lost and stolen guns and trafficking of firearms
There are already laws on the books for not reporting lost or stolen guns. Police can always use more training. In particular, in how to look up the right address before conducting no-knock raids in the middle of the night, and of being able to tell the difference between a friendly family pet Labrador Retriever, and, well, anything else they may be aiming at.
