[url=http://boston.com/dailyglobe2/192/metro/House_votes_to_loosen_gun_laws+.shtml]Mass. bill would let felons buy, carry arms[/url]

-cont-

Hey, if somebody has done thier time and paid for their crime, shouldn't they get their rights back.  Especially if it was not a violent crime. The right to own a weapon for self defense is one of the most primary rights.  How many of us have committed some felony at one time or another, violating some drug or gun law? (not me, of course) I think in California just about everything is a felony now. [:)]  Hell, if I would have just done nothing instead of registering my rifles I would have committed a felony.  A felony for the simple act of doing nothing.

Didn't Rand say in Atlas Shrugged that the govt. will gain power by making it impossible to not break the law, thereby putting everyone under the governments thumb?

Agree with Ratters.  

Certainly there are violent felons who should never be allowed to legally possess firearms again.  

However, the gun-control types have been trying to back into gun control by increasing the number of citizens who can’t own them.  The Laudenberg law being a good example.

Pretty soon, anyone who got below a “B” in grade school will be forever banned from owning a firearm. [:O]

Doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of passing.

 Stepped-init

I agree with Ratters too.

I'm just amazed the liberals in mass-a-shoe-shits would propose this type of thing.  

Imagine, more folks carrying guns?!?!

Gotta agree with Ratters, too.  Especially for non violent offenses.  That you have been a felon does not degrade you to not having self defense rights.

I agree with Ratters [b]AND[/b] Stepped-init.

the_reject

Nice bias in the sub-headline, how about

[i]Mass. bill would let those who have paid their debt to society buy, carry arms[/i]

Oh that's right, politico correctness only applies to those the media would rather not harm.

The article in the ultra liberal Boston Globe is BULLSHIT. The following is from GOAL.org.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE:
The Massachusetts House has engrossed H.5102, a bill to reform our state’s firearms licensing laws. This bill passed by an overwhelming 80 percent majority because it was clear that citizens were demanding changes to the system. If you called or wrote your state representative about this bill, please give yourself a pat on the back.
But the story doesn’t end there! H.5102 now moves to the Senate. According to news reports, Senate President Birmingham will be coming out in opposition to this vital reform bill today.
ACTION ITEMS:
We urge all GOAL members to call their own state Senators about H.5102. Now is the time to push. Make your calls brief, and be polite. You should ask your senator to (1) support prompt passage of H.5102 and (2) to insist that Senate President Birmingham bring H.5102 to a vote soon (to find who your senator is, go to http://www.state.ma.us/legis/citytown.htm
We also urge you to call the office of Senate President Birmingham (617-722-1500) and ask him to bring this up for a vote right away.
Go to http://www.goal.org/H5102upd.htm and look up how your state representative voted. If they supported H.5102, please thank them. If they voted against the bill, you need to tell them how disappointed you are with their stance.
WHAT DOES THE BILL REALLY DO?
The opposition to H.5102 does not hesitate to lie. They have tried to portray this as a bill which will allow "violent felons" to possess guns.
The truth? Here’s a list of who would still be permanently denied a license to carry:
Persons convicted of a violent crime or felony involving the use, possession, ownership, transfer, purchase, sale, lease rental, receipt or transportation of weapons or ammunition;
Persons convicted of a felony involving the use, possession or sale of controlled substances; and
Persons who have second or subsequent convictions for misdemeanors punishable by more than two years that have as an element the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force or a deadly weapon against the person of another, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a risk of physical injury to another.
In fact, many persons convicted of misdemeanors will have to wait until seven years after their conviction (or end of probation) before they can apply for a license or FID card. Even then, the license to carry a firearm remains a discretionary license so that the police chief may deny folks who are clearly unsuitable.
This bill is designed to fix a problem and restore firearms rights to thousands of citizens who used to have licenses and FID cards – folks who were suddenly deemed unsuitable by the commonwealth. GOAL’s files are full of heartrending stories of folks who were convicted of crimes twenty, thirty, and forty years ago who don’t understand why a decades-old conviction should be held against them.
This bill just makes our firearms licensing system a little more fair. It still screens out violent persons. Don’t let the rhetoric of the other side win – make those calls today!
The GOAL STAFF

Why is it liberal gun-control wankers can scream that Al Qaida PRISONERS OF WAR are having their "Constitutional Rights" violated (Ummmmm, they aren't CITIZENS are they?!?!?!??) yet feel that U.S. citizens who have paid their debt to society can have their Constitutional Rights stripped from them!!!

After you get out of prison you are allowed to vote, right?  Why can't you have your right of self protection (bear arms)?

Heck...the liberals have been trying to get CURRENT PRISONERS the right to vote while STILL IN PRISON!!!  It just goes to show that they have no brains, no morals, no logic, and no set standard to measure against.  It's just whatever "feels good" at the moment to satisfy their feeble-minded intellectualism.

Does this really matter?  

Because from what I understand, there are no guns MA residents are allowed to buy; especially handguns.

Actually I thought a convicted felon does not have the right to vote even after serving thier term. Has somethiung changed?

[beer]

The Leftists are a motley crew ruled by emotion rather than reason. They are bound together by a desire to steal everything from you: your security, your children, your property, and ultimately all your rights.

Mass is bad but not that bad! Not as bad as CA for sure.  I currently live in MA!

You can buy handguns in Mass, the Attorny General here has placed restrictions on handgun sales though. You can have your choice of the following models...
Beretta
Walther P-99 only.
Any Smith and Wesson
Sig Sauer
All other models are illegal for a gun shop to sell unless they were made before Sept of 1998.
WOW!

Handguns sold have to pass a tests! Mandated by AG.

On to the bill, I hope it passes Mass had 1.5 million gun owners a short time ago now there are only 200,000 statewide legal gun owners!!!!

I got my permit to carry it only took three months waiting and I knew a cop who helped me get it!

So heres the deal in Mass now if you are convicted of a minor thing say DUI in 1997, if you go before a judge you can never own a firearm legally again!

Lets call those phone numbers and support www.goal.org Its everyones rights at stake here!

"A man who owns guns knows FREEDOM!"

Far as I'm concerned, if you're not willing to give someone back his rights, all his rights, including voting and owning fully automatic weapons, then you should either leave him in jail or hang him. Violent felon or not.

Of course we all know that the proper punishment for a violent felon is to be shot dead by the intended victim at the scene of the intended crime.

How are they going to get around ATF???   It's still a federal no no, Right??

Egg_Zactly. And I am assuming that this is one facet of a more encompassing bill.



It was a political move - the right could say they tried, they went out for a $75.00 comped lunch, when they came back they failed to notice the rider to the bill that will no doubt - kill it.


The gun owners of Mass ought to be be really pissed about this slight of hand.

I'd surmise maybe,just maybe,a few  well connected folks=whitecollarFELONS in MA had something to do with this bills introduction.[:|]

Well, I think Califonia is better than MASS as far as handguns are concerned.  We may have the safety test requirements but I still have a choice of over 700 handguns.  It is gonna be a bit more of a PITA next year with the new licensing requirements, but at least it is easier than a FOID and we don't need to get "permission" from the police.  Yet.  Not saying it is great, just better than some other states.

The government in California really does suck though.

Funny...I don't see Glock, Colt, Kimber, Springfield, Taurus, Ruger and some other handguns brands that you [i]CAN[/i] buy in California.

Well… H.5102 has been getting a lot of support in the Legislature even though the glob has been trumping it as a bill to arm criminals. Mass gun owners have gotten very active on this subject (and others) and since this is an election year some of the legiscritters have figured out that they may lose if they vote “No”.

If you are a gun owner in MA, join GOAL [url]www.goal.org[/url]

BTW there were some shops that were selling new Glocks, which one I don’t know.

SDavid the soon to be Recovering Masshole

To you California guys- In Mass handguns are restricted to a few approved brands, which pass safety tests like dropping, unlike CA.  But on the other side of the coin, we can still buy AK's, AR-15's, FAL's, and large cap mags.

The laws vary greatly depending on your town police chief- if he is a real liberal, he may give you a hard time, but further from Boston, most police chiefs hand out permits with no qualms, as long as you pass a criminal background check every 4 years.