On the same day that Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed an emergency preamble putting the state's new gun control statutes into effect immediately, a man with a lengthy criminal history shot and killed a man before running into traffic and pointing a gun at passing cars. 

According to authorities, 41-year-old Felix Rivera had 30 arraignments and a criminal history stretching back 28 years, and had been on the radar of local law enforcement at least twice in recent weeks. But despite his extensive criminal background and the seriousness of his most recent charges, Rivera was out on the streets instead of behind bars, allowing him to carry out his brief one-man crime spree before he killed himself as officers closed in on Wednesday afternoon. 

On the night of Sept. 30, Rivera used a gun to keep his partner of nine months from leaving him, according to court documents. He pointed the gun at them, warning “if you call the cops, you will be the first one to die.”

They did not call the police and stayed, in fear for their life, the court documents read. They notified police on Oct. 1, telling officers that Rivera pointed a gun at their head several times threatening to kill them.

For this incident, Rivera faced charges of aggravated kidnapping, assault with a dangerous weapon, intimidation of a witness and threatening to commit a crime — murder.

Rivera also faced charges for another case on Aug. 18, 2024, in connection with an incident at an unnamed Worcester store, according to court documents. He grabbed a woman’s neck, “not allowing the victim to breathe for a couple seconds,” police reported. The responding officer noted that the woman had red marks around her neck. 

Rivera walked into the store with a knife in his sweatshirt pocket and told her to leave the store, the officer added. Rivera told her to leave or he would stab her, moving the knife in his pocket in her direction.

“The victim stated she was in fear for her life,” the officer wrote. The woman told police that Rivera had a gun but did not have a license to carry.

Police reached out to talk to Rivera, but he replied back, “No, you are going to have to catch me,” the report stated.

A warrant was requested, with Rivera facing the charges of strangulation or suffocation and assault with a dangerous weapon.

While there was an active warrant out for Rivera's arrest for the domestic violence incident on Septemer 30, it's unclear whether Worchester police ever took him into custody for the August incident where he allegedly choked a woman and tried to abduct her at knifepoint. 

What is clear, however, is that while Massachusetts lawmakers continue to crack down on legal gun owners, the Democratic establishment is taking a much softer approach to career criminals. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has supported scrapping the city's gang database and backed the Suffolk County District Attorney's decision not to file charges for crimes like shoplifting, larceny, disorderly conduct, receiving stolen property, breaking and and threats. Gov. Healey, meanwhile, adopted new standards for clemency that one academic in the state claims offers "mercy and compassion in dealing with people convicted of even the most serious criminal offenses." And even as violent crime increased by as much as 20% in some Massachusetts cities over the past few years, the state's rate of incarceration had dropped to the lowest in the nation.

The new gun control statutes enacted by Massachusetts Democrats will likely lead to fewer legal gun owners, but they're not going to do anything to curb career criminals like Rivera, who will continue to take advantage of the catch-and-release policies of progressive DA's, judges, and the Democratic establishment.