The irony of Massachusetts is that there’s extreme dichotomy in its history. On one hand, the people of the Bay State have a sordid history of hanging people that are different from the rest of the folks, branding them as witches. On the other hand, the shot that was heard around the world was fired on the soil of Massachusetts, and the greatest of patriots, founding fathers, and heroes sprung forth, bringing on our nation’s birth. Whenever something pops up from the most dangerous state in New England concerning guns, unfortunately the establishment seems to align itself with the “hang them” portion of their history, declining to allow liberty to flourish. It was recently announced that another Massachusetts town is seeking to outlaw the Second Amendment.

Our friends over at the Gun Owners’ Action League sent out a message on Friday concerning an upcoming town meeting to vote on a freedom limiting measure.

On Monday, May 1st the Town of Sudbury will be voting on whether or not they will endorse a town meeting article treating all gun owners in Massachusetts as bloodthirsty killers. The Town’s annual meeting warrant will include an article that would make the “sale, assembly and/or manufacturing of firearms and/or components thereof, ammunition and explosives a prohibited use in ALL zoning districts” in Sudbury. The petition sponsor’s report of the proposed bylaw is a misleading screed full of hatred, distrust of all gun owners and misinformation-a stark, bare example of the social bigotry the Second Amendment community faces in the Commonwealth.

We encourage anyone who can attend this meeting, especially members in Sudbury, to go and make your voices heard and stand up against this hateful type policy.

The meeting will be held on Monday, May 1st at 7:30PM at the L-SRHS Auditorium (390 Lincoln Road, Sudbury, MA). You can see the warrant article and more information about the meeting here: https://sudbury.ma.us/townmeeting/tmarticles/

This has been a very common tactic in the Bay State, with several towns enacting or trying to enact similar ordinances. To date however, this might be the most extensive one that we’ve reported on, with the language making it prohibited to engage in firearm industry related activities in all of their zoning districts.

The Warrant Report, TM-2023 – Article 55 Control of Firearms Zoning, is as follows:

In Section 2230, Appendix A, Table of Principal Use Regulations, add a line after “Marijuana Establishment” in Part C of the table which shows “N” all the way across the table and call it “Sales, Assembly, and/or Manufacturing of Firearms and/or Components thereof, Ammunition, and Explosives”. This amendment would make the Sales, Assembly, and/or Manufacturing of Firearms and/or Components thereof, Ammunition, and Explosives a prohibited use in all zoning district in the Town of Sudbury.

The report does not stop there, as it continues to make a very political statement:

PETITION SPONSOR’S REPORT: The intent of this article is to regulate the manufacture and sale of guns and ammunition in Sudbury in the interest of public health and safety. The increasing access to firearms in our society is coupled with ever increasing death rates.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has relatively stringent gun laws but as we have seen they are not uniformly enforced and loopholes are always being exploited. Fortunately, the rate of gun deaths is not as high in Massachusetts as it is in some other states, but it is much higher than in many other countries. The ready access to guns everywhere risks violence and death, death both intentional and unintentional, by one’s own hand and by others.

Reduction in the demand for retail and industrial space in Sudbury means that much space languishes on the lease market, encouraging landlords to lease to tenants with unconventional or questionable business models in order to maintain any rental income at all. In the course of the last nine months we have seen a long series of news articles in the Boston Globe about a large nest of unconventional and illegal gun dealers in one building in Littleton operating in violation of State regulations and without regular inspections by local police and Federal authorities. Some of these weapons have been used in criminal activity including straw purchases. This has led the Town of Littleton and its citizenry to orchestrate the sale and demolition of the entire building as a way of halting this unwanted activity.

This warrant article does not prevent hunters from loading ammunition in their own homes but it does ban the building and merchandising of firearms and ammunition within the Town’s borders for commercial purposes. Further, it does not impinge on anyone’s rights under the Second Amendment of the Constitution. However, individuals should not be tempted by ready access to firearms to spontaneously commit violence against themselves, classmates, or family members. The darkest impulses of the human soul should not be exploited for profit.

In Sudbury and in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts we look out for each other’s health and welfare. If after each senseless act of gun violence that is splashed across the news, we ask “Why can’t something be done about this horror?”, the answer is it can, and this town bylaw amendment is part of our answer.

SELECT BOARD POSITION: The Select Board will report at Town Meeting

These anti-freedom, Fudd appeasing, goose steppers actually referenced “hunters,” and not standing in the way from them being able to participate in reloading activities. What about recreational shooters? How about those that practice and reload because they carry a firearm for self-defense? No! These Fudd lickers went out of their way to actually exclude the constitutionally protected portions of gun ownership – whereas, hunting ain’t got nothing to do with it baby! This council made a loud and clear statement…several loud and clear statements; full of bias and bigotry towards approximately 10% of their population – the most law abiding segment of their society, those not prohibited from owning firearms. 

This Ministry of Truth panel had the stones to equate legal firearm sales and ownership to their own fabricated extreme impulses as described, “ However, individuals should not be tempted by ready access to firearms to spontaneously commit violence against themselves, classmates, or family members. The darkest impulses of the human soul should not be exploited for profit.” This is straight up projection. The citizens of Sudbury should be wickedly afraid of whoever actually authored this, because they clearly have a warped sense of reality, and I’d be worried they think the way they described within the proposed ordinance.

The Sudbury council is calling for Goody and John Proctor to hang from ropes, and the law abiding gun owner/lawfully licensed FFLs are the Proctors.

Massachusetts and jurisdictions within really have jumped the shark when it comes to infringements. I hope I’m wrong, but my speculation is in 2024 we’ll be seeing a ton of bills introduced similar to the carry-killer law in New Jersey and the Concealed Carry Improvement Act in New York. With the legislature soundly entrenched as severe pinko level, and a gun-hating hoplophobic governor, the second half of the legislative session might be chock-full of infringing legislation. Further, there has been a series of so-called “Gun Law Listening Tours,” which I believe will be used to say next year, “we listened to the people and here are the laws we think we need to introduce.”

If you live in Massachusetts, first off, I’m sorry. I lived there for a number of years, and it was so bad on civil liberties that moving back to New Jersey full time wasn’t “that bad.” But in all seriousness, brace for impact for more of these kinds of pushes. Now’s a good time to alert the people of Sudbury of what’s about to happen in their town, and people need to communicate with the council, as well as show up to voice their opposition. If you’d like to reach out to the Select Board – the five members that act as the town council – you can email them HERE.

The meeting information, as per the Select Board Meeting Page is as follows:

Event Start: Monday, May 1, 2023 (7:30 pm)
Event End: Monday, May 1, 2023 (10:30 pm) (Expected)
Location: Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School – Auditorium
Committee: Select Board
Notes: Annual Town Meeting at LSRHS Auditorium
Broadcast: SudburyTV: Live Broadcast — Video on Demand