Massachusetts has always found their way into the pages of Bearing Arms with regularity, but the last week has provided a cornucopia worthy of a Plymouth Thanksgiving of things to update people on. Yesterday I reported on the guidance document issued by Attorney General, and Democratic frontrunner for Governor, Maura Healey. In the document Healy conceded that Massachusetts’s “good reason” requirement for a permit to carry would no longer be enforced. The directive looked open and shut, but there were a couple of little details that were noticed, and the Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) is not having any of that. I noted yesterday:

Regardless of this weird semantical game, Massachusetts seems to be bending a knee to NYSRPA v. Bruen, as they should! The only concerning part of this mishmash is the references to whether or not someone is a “suitable” person. Is the Attorney General basically inferring that issuing authorities should just deem people “unsuitable” to workaround the decision?

GOAL, the state level NRA affiliate club, has zeroed in on this caveat with laser focus. Jim Wallace, the Executive Director, penned an eloquent fire and brimstone letter. The letter was sent to the Attorney General, Governor Charlie Baker, and Terrence Reidy, the Secretary to the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. Wallace wasted no time in making his thoughts and the organization’s position known.

July 5, 2022

Attorney General Maura Healey
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1 Ashburton Place, 20th Floor
Boston, MA 02108

RE: Restoration of Civil Rights Under Bruen

Dear Attorney General Healey,

On June 23, 2022 the United States Supreme Court issued a decision on the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc., ET AL v. Bruen ET AL.. In that decision the highest court firmly ruled that the Second Amendment is indeed an individual civil right enumerated in the United States Constitution. The Court reiterated that Second Amendment “is not a second class right subject to an entirely different body of rules.” Further, any laws or regulations regarding the Second Amendment must meet the absolute highest standard of review.

We are aware of the joint “guidance” released by the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General and the Executive office of Public Safety and Security. We are officially demanding that the so-called “guidance” be retracted and revised as it does not reflect the decision handed down by the Court!

First   It is very clear by reading the guidance that the Commonwealth believes that “suitability,” IE Chief’s Discretion, is Constitutional. This method in Massachusetts has been widely abused by licensing authorities to restrict or deny all manner of people based on arbitrary personal opinions. Doing away with this type of discriminatory prejudice is absolutely at the core of the Court’s decision. Following a clear and logical reading of Bruen, that could not be further from the truth.

Post Bruen, the only hurdle a citizen must overcome to obtain a license is to pass a standard criminal and mental health background check. Those checks must be standard for every citizen under the 14th Amendment (Equal protection) and can only apply to criminal convictions or mental health commitments that make the citizen a “prohibited person”.

Second   Whereas restricted licenses are now clearly unconstitutional, the guidance gave no mention of the fact that any restrictions on currently issued licenses can no longer be enforced. That all such licenses are now considered to have been issued for all lawful purposes.

Third     A key element of the Bruen decision was the ability to carry firearms in public places. The court made it exceedingly clear that carry/possession bans in public areas must meet the “historically sensitive areas” condition, such as schools, court houses, etc. As such, state and local law enforcement need to be advised that any state laws or local ordinances that ban the carrying/possession of firearms in public places that are not strictly historically sensitive areas can no longer be enforced.

Fourth  The guidance states that “Licensing authorities may continue to inquire about the reasons why the applicant wants a license…” This absolutely violates not only the clear legal opinion of the Court, but indeed the spirit of it as well. If the licensing authority is not allowed to use that information against the applicant, then why would it be constitutional to ask the questions?

Fifth    As the issuance of licenses can only be predicated on a standard prohibited person status, this means that all other hurdles/inquiries are now unconstitutional. These would include mandates and/or conditions, but not limited to, training requirements, letters of reference, names of reference, qualification tests, etc. It must be included in any official guidance that these mandates are now in violation of Bruen.

It is for these, and other clear reasons, that we are demanding the guidance be retracted and revised to meet the clear legal reading and the actual spirit of Bruen!

Sincerely,

James L. Wallace
Executive Director, Gun Owners’ Action League

I can picture James “Big Jim” Wallace standing there like Galndolf, beard blowing in the hostile freedom squelching winds, staff in hand declaring “You shall not pass!”, as he demands a full retraction and revision to the guidance, to meet what the opinion in NYSRPA v. Bruen really means at the core.

Bravo GOAL and James Wallace! I don’t have any inside baseball, or know what’s going to come next, but I’m going to assume, as the Attorney General should, if Wallace’s missive goes ignored, a more firm wake up call will probably be delivered to the offending pinkos.

While I understand that the learning curve is going to be steep for many jurisdictions on this topic, that does not mean that I, or the constituents (mis)served in them, like it. The likes of the marxist states of Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, et.al. all need to come to terms with the “control” portion of so-called “gun control” laws. “Gun control” needs to be removed from their ideological fiber. No longer can these states control the people by infringing on their right to keep and bear arms. We’re looking at just the beginning of what infringements need to be scrapped going forward. Once the permitting processes are straightened out, hopefully we’ll see relief in the form of zero fees for such licensure, as well as dismantling every other infringement ripe for the picking. The dominos that’ll fall will make the progressives have a collective inadvertent defecation. The sooner they come to terms, the better.

We’ll be watching the progress of how our friends over at Gun Owners Action League make out, and of course update you with any new developments.

In the meantime, take a gander at the video that Wallace put out last week on GOAL’s youtube page letting the membership and public at large know they’re “on it” by clicking HERE or watch it in the embed below.