The National Association for Gun Rights said on May 30, 2023, that it will challenge Massachusetts over its 1998 “assault weapons” prohibition, which was expanded in 2016.
The majority of semi-automatic weapons, standard capacity magazines, and their sale or possession are illegal under this Massachusetts legislation. The statute was established in 1998 by then-Gov. Mitt Romney.
The first hearing took place this week. The case was heard by Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV. President George W. Bush appointed him.
According to Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights, “Massachusetts has been continuously actively violating the Second Amendment for many years. Under Bruen, I have no doubt that Romney’s Assault Weapons Ban is doomed. The Massachusetts population’s rights will be restored, thanks to the National Association for Gun Rights.”
“Romney signed a gun control measure that was so heinous that many Democratic legislators wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot stick when he was governor. Since assuming office in 2019, Romney, the junior senator from Utah, has participated in almost every compromise on gun regulation,” according to Brown.
The NYSRPA V. Bruen ruling, which mandated that gun control measures must be justified by the history, language, and tradition of the Second Amendment, was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2022. The NAGR complaint claims that the Massachusetts gun prohibition breaches this ruling.
“This legislation prohibits guns that are widely used in the United States, including the most common rifle in the country. The Romney gun ban will be a huge feather in our hat, and our members are itching to put an end to semi-auto prohibitions statewide,” Brown said in a parting statement.
One of the states that condemn guns the most in the country is Massachusetts. Massachusetts is placed 47th on the list of the top states for gun owners published by Guns & Ammo magazine. Legislative improvements in the state are unlikely to happen anytime soon because of the state legislature’s anti-gun stance.
However, gun owners could get some redress from the courts. The good news is that this is something that can be accomplished by groups like NAGR. Hopefully, other Second Amendment advocacy groups will see this pattern and utilize the legal system to fight back against certain types of gun regulation.
Author: Steven Sinclaire
