The Massachusetts legislature is closer to bulking up the state’s already stringent gun laws by passing S.2572, the act to “Sensibly Address Firearms Violence Through Effective Reform,” the SAFER Act. This bill contains most of the gun control movement’s top priorities.
Members of the state Senate’s Republican minority say they agree with most of the SAFER Act, but expressed concern that there were no public hearings on the proposed legislation before Thursday’s debate.
The Senate approved the bill on a vote of 37 to 3.
Much of the proposed legislation would bring Massachusetts state law in line with federal law.
The comprehensive bill would codify the state’s ban on so-called “assault weapons,” outlaw devices to increase a gun’s rate of fire, and expand the state’s red flag law to include people under harassment orders among other items.
Sen. Cynthia Stone Creem (D-Norfolk/Middlesex) sponsored the legislation.
Minority leader Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-First Essex/Middlesex) said that while he shares many of the same goals as Ms. Creem and the Democrats, he had reservations about the process by which the bill was brought before the Senate. He said there were no public hearings on the bill as required by the Senate rules.
Senate President Pro-Tempore William Brownsberger (D-Suffolk/Middlesex) said that all the elements of the bill had been heard by committees considering other bills prior to the introduction of Ms. Creem’s legislation. He called Mr. Tarr’s objection “hair-splitting.”
Ms. Creem agreed, saying that a more than four-hour-long hearing on gun safety legislation was held on Nov. 28, 2023.
“Nearly every component of this proposition was part of that hearing,” she said.
Mr. Tarr pointed out that the Senate Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security is tasked with reviewing any proposed gun control legislation. He said the Senate had failed to follow its own rules.
“It is clear that the committee has not processed this bill,” Mr. Tarr said before making a motion to send the bill before that committee.
Mr. Tarr’s motion failed on a party-line vote.
Ms. Creem said the bill is supported by government, law enforcement officials, citizens, and activists from around the state, as well as a majority of state senators.
“It’s the Senate’s bill. It represents what all of you asked me to do,” Ms. Creem said.
During the debate, Sen. James Eldridge (D-Middlesex/Worcester) defended the bill as “well-balanced gun safety legislation.” He said that too many people view the Second Amendment as an absolute right. Mr. Eldridge talked of touring an old mill in Littleton, Massachusetts.
According to media reports dozens of gun businesses were providing technically legal products and services that would allegedly enable citizens to get around state gun law. Such as selling parts kits or disassembled firearms that they could not sell if they were assembled.
Mr. Eldridge said the bill addresses those issues while promoting the ultimate aim of all the legislators.
“We all want the people of the commonwealth to be safe,” he said.
The senators adopted an amendment by Sen. Adam Gomez (D-Hampden) to protect organizations from spurious liability claims when they are engaged in legal activities promoting youth hunting and shooting sports.
Regulates ‘Ghost Guns’
In addition to cracking down on homemade guns and gun parts kits, the bill restricts the use of 3-D printing machines and technology to make a gun to licensed firearms manufacturers. It also defines unfinished frames and receivers as firearms that require serial numbers.The law also redefines who is in the business of selling firearms and sets strict rules to prevent marketing guns to minors.
The GOAL also expressed concern on its website about the bill’s redefinition of terms including “firearm,” “frame,” “machine gun,” “manufacture or assemble,” “rifle,” “shotgun,” and “receiver.”
The act also expands the list of who can petition a court for an extreme risk protection order or red flag law to include health care providers. It also adds other orders under which a person’s firearms can be confiscated.
Massachusetts law provides for harassment orders to be issued against anyone accused of stalking, threatening, sexually assaulting, and intimidating someone, regardless of whether the claimant has a relationship with the person or the level of violence involved in the alleged action. Under the bill, persons subject to such an order could also have their firearms confiscated.
The legislation will go before a conference committee, which will finalize the bill and provide a report to the legislature. When that report is approved, the enacted legislation will be sent to Gov. Maura Healy for her signature.
Ms. Creem expressed her delight in the bill’s progress after the hearing.
“Concern for public safety, a commitment to equity, respect for the Second Amendment, and a focus on the root causes of gun crime and gun accidents—these principles underlie each of the policies included in the bill the Senate passed today,” Ms. Creem wrote in a press release. “I’m proud of the collaborative effort that went into the SAFER Act and I look forward to seeing these policies signed into law by the end of session.”
