The bill, H. 4135, passed the state’s House on October 18 with a vote of 120–38.
According to a report from the Epoch Times, the bill “would mandate that key gun components be serialized and registered with the state, it proposes an enhanced system to curtail the flow of illegal guns into the state, and it seeks to modernize the existing firearm registration system. It would also expand the state’s ban on assault weapons by prohibiting the purchase of AR-15-style weapons and would ban the conversion of a legal firearm into an illegal automatic weapon.”
The bill would also outlaw having a gun while intoxicated and ban firing them near homes. Additionally, it will prohibit guns from polling places, schools, and all government buildings.
The proposed legislation will also expand “red flag” laws in the state, which allows a judge to remove someone’s right to own a firearm if they are a risk to themselves or others.
The National Rifle Association of America-Institute for Legislative Action has strongly opposed the bill and is urging supporters to contact their state senators to express their thoughts on the bill.
“H. 4135 re-writes gun laws in the Commonwealth and imposes unprecedented gun control. This is an ominous bill that includes the worst anti-gun legislation in the country,” the organization said in a statement obtained by the Epoch Times.
Massachusetts Rep. Ronald Mariano said that the bill is in response to the Supreme Court expanding Second Amendment rights.
“The comprehensive gun safety reform legislation that the House passed today will make Massachusetts residents safer, and will further strengthen the Commonwealth’s status as a national leader in the effort to combat gun violence,” Mariano wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Seems to be a problem if one takes an oath. Section 24. Every commissioned officer, before entering upon the performance of official duties or exercising any command, shall take and subscribe the following oath and declaration:
I, , do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and will support the constitution thereof and the constitution of the United States, that I will obey the lawful orders of all my superior officers, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on me as ___ according to the best of my ability and understanding, agreeably to the rules and regulations of the constitution and the laws of the commonwealth and the United States. So help me, God.
All officers shall take and subscribe the said oath before any competent authority or an officer qualified under section 81 to administer oaths, except retired officers and aides-de-camp of the commander-in-chief who may take said oath before any competent authority. The following certificate shall be printed on every commission and shall be signed by the person before whom the officer is qualified:
This may certify that , commissioned as within on this ___ day of , A.D., ___ personally appeared and took and subscribed the oaths required by the constitution and laws of this commonwealth and by a law of the United States, as qualification for the discharge of official duties.
Before me, . https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleV/Chapter33/Section24#:~:text=I%2C%20%2C%20do%20solemnly%20swear%20that,and%20impartially%20discharge%20and%20perform