The bill, which runs more than 100 pages, will likely be adopted before lawmakers even have a chance to read through all of the language, according to GOAL executive Jim Wallace. 

The Senate had previously rejected the House legislation in favor of a more limited bill (that wasn't much better, according to GOAL), and when the two chambers remained at odds over the details of the gun control legislation the bill was shunted off to a conference committee to hammer out the differences. So what's the final version look like? 

Well, GOAL has released a summary of the legislation written by someone at the statehouse. At first glance there are a number of issues:

• prohibiting adults younger than 21 from purchasing or possessing semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. 
• expanding the state's current ban on so-called assault weapons
• banning the sale of 3D printers "specifically marketed as capable of making firearms"
• requiring live fire training for all gun license applicants

Those are the biggest issues from a legal perspective, but there are plenty of other aspects of the bill that are also troubling to gun owners. The state plans on expanding data on gun owners, which will be used to create a "publicly accessible online dashboard of anonymized aggregate data". As you might recall, California did the same thing a few years ago, only a data leak resulted in the personal information of hundreds of thousands of gun owners being made available to download for a brief period of time. 

The bill also adds to the list of those who can petition the courts for an Extreme Risk Protection Order, to include family members, law enforcement, school administrators and licensed healthcare providers. It adds to the number of "gun-free zones" in the state by prohibiting lawful concealed carry in government buildings, polling places, and schools; though it does contain an "opt-out" provision for municipalities that want to continue to allow concealed carry in their municipal buildings. 

The Gun Owners Action League has posted the text of the bill on its website, but a word of warning: H.4139 is so chock-full of legislatese that it's virtually impossible to know what changes are being made without cross-referencing existing statutes. Wallace and GOAL legislative affairs director Mike Harris are combing over the bill this afternoon, and Wallace will join me on Bearing Arms' Cam & Co on Thursday to go over the devilish details with the legislation. 

We already know the deal reached by House and Senate Democrats isn't going to be good for gun owners, however. That's why they're racing to get the bill to Gov. Maura Healey's desk before gun owners have had a chance to see the bill and respond to lawmakers. The legislature has been working on this bill for nearly twelve months. There's no reason to rush a vote now except to prevent opponents from responding in a timely manner. The legislature doesn't adjourn until July 31st, so the House and Senate could easily vote on this next week after stakeholders have had time to examine the bill and weigh in with their thoughts. That they're choosing to rush forward instead speaks volumes about how damaging the bill will be to the right to keep and bear arms. 

The only bit of good news that I can find is that there are multiple portions of the bill that can and will be challenged in court. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, for instance, just held that Minnesota's ban on concealed carry for under-21s is a violation of the Second Amendment, so preventing young adults from purchasing semi-automatic rifles and shotguns isn't likely to stand up under court scrutiny. Massachusetts' existing ban on so-called assault weapons will be expanded to include almost every centerfire semi-automatic rifle on the market, which means a new opportunity to challenge the ban itself in court. And given the lack of publicly accessible ranges where prospective gun owners could take part in live fire training, the inevitable delays in applying for and receiving a license to carry (which is also a license to possess a firearm) will give GOAL and other 2A groups the ability to sue over the new licensing mandates. 

H.4139 is on thin legal ice, in other words, even before it gets to the governor for her signature. But unless or until enforcement is halted by a court order, the Lawful Citizens Imprisonment Act is likely to do severe damage to the fundamental civil rights of Massachusetts residents.