S.1401 - Call you Reps and ask them to suport this.

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Just wanted to pass this on. Call or write you Reps, so we can get this passed. Thanks guys.
Gun Owners' Action League

"Protecting Your Freedom Begins Here"
The Official Firearms Association of Massachusetts

...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

PO Box 567 Northboro, MA 01532 Phone: 508.393.5333 Email Us




GOAL Urges Passing of State of Emergency Bill

With winter approaching and being the time of year that the northeast is most likely to face a state of emergency caused by our weather, GOAL is asking the legislature to pass into law S.1401 - "An Act Prohibiting The Confiscation Of Lawfully Owned Firearms During A State Of Emergency". Filed by Senator Richard T. Moore.

This bill would put in place a law that would prevent government officials from confiscating lawfully owned guns during a state of emergency. It also establishes punishments for any rogue officials that choose to violate the law.


"No reasonable person would say that citizens placed in a state of anarchy caused by a natural or manmade disaster should be forced to give up their only means of protecting their lives and property," said Jim Wallace Executive Director of Gun Owners Action League. "When the looters and killers are breaking into homes looking for food or property to steal and calling the police isn't even an option, it is the government's obligation to ensure that the lawful citizen's are allowed to protect themselves without harassment."



GOAL is urging all of its members to contact their legislators and ask them to support S.1401 by:

Sending a letter to the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security asking the Committee to release the bill with a FAVORABLE report.

Forward a copy of that letter to GOAL so we can add their names to the legislators who support preventing the illegal confiscation lawfully owned guns.

Click here to find your legislator.


Bill Text:

AN ACT prohibiting the confiscation of lawfully owned firearms during a state of emergency
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 140 of the Massachusetts General Laws shall be amended by adding the following section;

Section 129E. Prohibiting the confiscation of lawfully owned firearms.

No law enforcement officer, person acting as a law enforcement officer, or other public official shall confiscate or attempt to confiscate any lawfully carried or lawfully owned firearm, rifle or shotgun in this state during a declared state of emergency.

Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a civil fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000 for each firearm, rifle or shotgun confiscated or by imprisonment in a state prison for not more than ten years or by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than two and one-half years.



Summary: This bill prohibits law enforcement or government officials from confiscating the “lawfully owned or lawfully carried” guns of citizens during a declared state of emergency.

A few years ago, television coverage during the aftermath of the Rodney King trial showed rioters and looting throughout Los Angeles. Careful observation would show that the rioters stayed clear of certain stores, where shopkeepers who lawfully owned firearms were able to protect their property.

More recently our nation saw first hand the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Adding insult to nature’s injury were the actions of many state and local governments that poorly prepared, failed to issue evacuation orders, and were caught flat-footed by the devastation. One of the most tragic government actions was the confiscation of lawfully owned firearms.

Local law enforcement were going door to door, confiscating firearms, and leaving good people at the mercy of criminals and looters. One TV camera caught on tape an elderly woman having her arm broken as she was thrown to the ground because she questioned the officer’s right to confiscate her firearm. Court action regarding these confiscations is still pending, as the city of New Orleans has been held in contempt of court for failure to return these firearms to citizens.

Also common in photos being circulated around the internet at that time were photos of neighborhoods where groups of people had banded together to share food, water, and protection. Spray-painted signs warned looters to keep away. People evacuated by canoe testified that criminals were ready to take their few belongings away, and that it was only the presence of a firearm, rifle or shotgun that prevented criminals from preying on others.

When civilized government fails, as it does in times of extreme stress, good people are often left without basic services provided by government – water, electricity, and fire and law enforcement service. That is no time to disarm the good people of the commonwealth, as we know the criminal element will thrive in such chaos.

List of Supporting Legislators



House Senate
Richard T. Moore
 
The trouble with this bill (and similar ones elsewhere on which it appears to have been based) is grammatical. By declaring:

"No law enforcement officer, person acting as a law enforcement officer, or other public official shall confiscate or attempt to confiscate any lawfully carried or lawfully owned firearm, rifle or shotgun in this state during a declared state of emergency." [Emphasis added.]

this bill implies that such conduct is legally acceptable during other times (i.e., when there is no declared state of emergency).

A better way to state this would be along the lines of:

"The fact that a state or local state of emergency has been declared by the governor or other authority does not authorize any law enforcement officer, person acting as a law enforcement officer, or other public office to confiscate any lawfully carried or lawfully owned firearm, rifle or shotgun within the commonwealth."

In addition, the new statute should be an amendment to the Civil Defense Act, not G.L. ch. 140.
 
Massachusetts is a commonwealth, not a state, so the federal protection doesn't apply.

IANAL BTW.
 
Good point, RKG.

Have you contacted GOAL or the author of the bill to have them revise it?
 
Places like Boston could care less about Fed Law . . . in any kind of crises you can count on Mumbles Menino ORDERING the Boston PD to confiscate! Largely they will obey under penalty of being fired. You can take that to the bank.

Boston already has a track record of "losing guns" or ignoring judges orders to return guns to the rightful owners . . . going back >30 years. Much like NOLA PD did, they make the "rules" for return so onerous (written documentation proving ownership for people that lost their homes and all their possessions!) that hardly anyone can "qualify" to get them back.
 
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