"Madness." 

That's how Cape Gun Works' Toby Leary described what things have been like in the gun shop over the past few days. Leary says he's never seen a run on guns like the one he's witnessed as the deadline for H. 4885 to take effect approaches. 

"We've had hundreds of customers every day," Leary says, and he's not alone. During Wednesday's VIP Gold Live Chat with HotAir's Ed Morrissey and myself, VIP Gold members and Massachusetts resident EA told us that when he visited his local range yesterday, he was able to score the last three boxes of 9mm ammunition on the shelf, and one of the range employees showed him a folder about four inches thick that consisted of all of the 4473s customers have filled out this week. Customers are purchasing anything and everything that's available, even the rental guns at EA's local range. 

This isn't "panic" buying, either. As Gun Owners Action League president Jim Wallace tells Bearing Arms' Cam & Co, once H. 4885 takes effect, it will be almost impossible to purchase a gun. As we've detailed previously, Massachusetts has, up until now, defined a "firearm" as a handgun. Now, all guns are considered "firearms" under the law. That makes sense, but it also poses a huge problem for gun owners, because the state also requires that every make and model of "firearm" undergo testing and receive state certification before it can be sold. Rifles and shotguns haven't been subjected to that requirement up until now, so there aren't any long guns on the state's firearm roster. 

Massachusetts officials have given no guidance whatsoever to FFL's like Leary about the new regulations, not even when they officially take effect. Some folks have interpreted H. 4885's language as kicking in today, others believes its August 2nd, and still others argue that the new restrictions can't officially be enforced until mid-October, 90 days after the law's "effective date." 

Without any word from state officials, Leary says he's erring on the side of caution. The bill does allow for existing inventory to be sold under the old regulations, so he's tried his best to stock up on what he could to meet customer demands, but he says he's operating under the assumption that the new requirements will kick in today or tomorrow, so he's not ordering any more long guns from his distributors. 

On today's show Wallace raised another issue that will impact Leary and other FFL's, even if the state manages to address its back-door ban on the sale of long guns. H. 4885 requires common carriers like UPS and FedEx to abide by storage requirements when transporting firearms, which means they must be kept in a locked area of the van or truck. Keeping the doors locked isn't enough to comply with the law, according to Wallace, and he suspects that it won't be long before companies tell FFL's they have to find another way to get their product shipped to their stores.

It's not just long guns that are impacted either. In Massachusetts, you must have a License to Carry in order to possess a firearm. But H. 4885 imposes an entirely new training curriculum for instructors and students seeking an LTC, but left it up to the state police to develop that curriculum. Until those new training mandates have been established, many licensing authorities will simply refuse to accept or process LTC applications. Current license holders are grandfathered in, but if someone decides next week that they're ready to exercise their Second Amendment rights for the first time, the odds are they'll be unable to do so. The new curriculum has to be written and approved, firearm instructors have to be certified to teach the course, and the material has to be made available for students, and it could easily be months before that happens. 

Wallace shared with Bearing Arms that the first of multiple lawsuits challenging various provisions of H. 4885 will soon be filed, perhaps even as early as today. The first lawsuit will target the licensing and training aspects of H. 4885, but Wallace says other lawsuits taking on the new restrictions on retailers, "assault weapons", and other portions of H. 4885 will soon follow. GOAL is working with a broad coalition of Second Amendment groups to divvy up the litigation, so expect an onslaught of lawsuits in the days ahead. 

Check out today's conversation with Jim Wallace in the video window below, and stay up to date with all of the developments at GOAL's 'gun ban' page on their website.