Rep. Ron Mariano, the real force behind Massachusetts’ "carry-killer" legislation

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

We’ve been giving a fair amount of coverage to the Massachusetts so-called “carry-killer” bill, also known as the Lawful Citizens Imprisonment Act. That’s for good reason. The progressive cancers that start in states like Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey don’t just stay there. No, the same powers behind destroying great states like those of the Bay, Empire, and Garden are coming to you too. The bill, HD.4420, was introduced by Representative Michael Day, but was this really his invention? There’s no doubt in my mind that House Speaker Ron Mariano is the driving force behind this, and boy did he set Day up for a rodeo.

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Representative Ronald Joseph Mariano, D-LD3, has been a representative since 1992. The truly sad thing is that the Democratic representative actually used to be a voice of reason to his colleagues when it came to freedom-crushing laws concerning firearms.

In 2014 a large bill was proposed concerning Massachusetts’ gun laws. The bill did overhaul a good portion of the Bay State’s laws – not really in a good way, though there were some good elements – and Mariano was the broker who worked across the aisles to make the final version of the bill more palatable.

A lot has changed since 2014. The man who once wore a mustache like Stalin has shaved it in favor of acting like Stalin.

In coverage of the 2018 race, it was listed that Mariano had “gun safety legislation” as a priority. In 2020, Mariano was elected to be the Speaker of the House, and perhaps that’s when there was a turning point. Under the new role as Speaker, Mariano started to adopt the swampy policies of the progressive cabal and would repeat the talking points of Giffords and Everytown, nearly verbatim.

Once Mariano became the Speaker, he then saw to the elevation of Rep. Day from Vice Chair, to Chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, with Day taking his first post from 2021 – 2022. How did Michael Day get this appointment? By being a good lap dog. In order to keep secure that spot, and maintain being in good graces, Day moved to have severe liberty-limiting measures affecting gun owners added to an unrelated bill in 2022.

The bill was a funding bill for technology bonds and improving the digital infrastructure. The measure had bipartisan support and was supposed to be an absolute slam dunk. What does Day do? He introduced an amendment that would have lowered the number of years a license to carry was good for from six to three, and ultimately speaking, the provisions that were accepted and enacted codified “suitable person.” The amendments were painted to bring the law up to constitutional muster by removing any “need” standard language in order to get a license to carry.

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The “suitable person” standard was a workaround for any type of “need” standard that was deemed unconstitutional. The lawmaker was substituting one subjective standard with another. Clearly, these progressive jurisdictions have been doing anything and everything to stonewall the lawful possession and ownership of firearms. Having the amendment roll out in H.5046 was sneaky and beyond insincere.

Michael Day made the following speech, in part, when introducing the amendments to the technology bill:

Mr. Speaker, and three of the members today we address the Supreme Court’s recent holding in New York Pistol and Rifle vs Bruen, in which the Court held that a state licensing authority could not ask individuals applying for a license to carry firearms to demonstrate that they have a special need or a proper cause to carry a firearm. And that the licensing authority could not have unfettered discretion to decide whether that proper cause existed.

Today, we tighten up the safety net that the Bruen decision loosened. We bring our licensing system into complete compliance with that decision. And we ensure that our regulatory structure is prepared for future legal challenges that would seek to do further irreparable harm to our state and our communities.

We achieve this by eliminating the requirement that applicants demonstrate a good reason to seek a license to carry. We replace existing discretionary may issue language with objective standards. And we remove the licensing authorities ability to impose restrictions relative to the possession, use or carrying of firearms, and large capacity rifles and shotguns as it deems proper. While we do this to confirm to conform to the Bruen decision.

We had just talked about what we stripped out of our licensing laws in the wake of Bruen, which we did to conform with that decision. And we further today take steps to ensure that the constitutional safety measures currently in place here in Massachusetts remain in place here in Massachusetts. We do this by strengthening existing standards in our law to ensure that individuals posing a risk to the public safety to themselves or to others are not issued licenses. We close a loophole in our laws by prohibiting persons currently subjected to a temporary or permanent harassment prevention order from obtaining a license to carry. And we ensure that persons who pose a risk of danger to their self or others by having control ownership or possession of a firearm, do not obtain a license to have that firearm.

Recognizing the curtailment of the proper cause requirements. We now ensure that our licensing authorities, our local law enforcement professionals, are able to check back in more regularly on what the Supreme Court calls the essential character of temperament necessary to be entrusted with a weapon by lowering the renewal period for a license to carry from six years  to three, when we codify the customs and practices of our law enforcement professionals, by now requiring an applicant to meet personally with that licensing authority.

It’s not lost on me, Mr. Speaker, or in anyone in this chamber, that in meeting this moment, we’re shaped not only by this Supreme Court decision, but by the seemingly endless number of mass shootings that have resulted in the slaughter of schoolchildren, innocent people going about their days, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers and children.

[Day lists a whole bunch of “shootings” that did not occur in Massachusetts]

Today’s action in this amendment provides our licensing authorities with the clarity that they need in the wake of the Bruin decision and tells them that we continue to believe in them and to rely upon them to ensure that while responsible gun owners will continue to receive a license to own firearms. Those who cannot be entrusted with a deadly weapon will not be legally permitted to possess one.

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So much of what Day said was a complete misrepresentation of what the law was at the time the amendments were introduced. A keen observer can see the weasel words that Day uses to set the stage for subverting the Supreme Court’s order. Who helped Day craft his harangue? Everytown? Moms Demand? Giffords? There’s a whole bunch of lies in that speech.

Mariano and Day are both quoted in a July 2022 article discussing the final versions of the 2022 amendment.

House Speaker Ronald Mariano announced the plan through a statement Thursday morning, saying he hoped to get the bill, the substance of which was not available, to Baker’s desk by July 31.

“House leadership has reached an agreement with Senate leadership, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, to expedite legislation needed to come into compliance with the Bruen decision while proactively safeguarding existing components of our gun laws from future challenges,” Mariano said. “We look forward to delivering a tailored proposal to the Governor prior to July 31st.”

Mariano said Thursday that the high court’s ruling “threatened the security of Massachusetts residents” and detailed plans for the House to “continue its legacy of enacting strong gun laws by taking both immediate action and forward-looking steps to ensure Massachusetts remains one of the safest places in the nation.” Rep. Michael Day, the Judiciary Committee co-chair, has been asked “to continue working with his House colleagues, experts in the field, and stakeholders to bolster our existing laws through an omnibus gun safety bill.”

“We will spend the coming months working on a comprehensive package to continue to move the Commonwealth forward and make necessary improvements due to a lack of decisive federal action,” Mariano said. “Our proposal will consider everything from updating our firearm licensing and training framework, to clamping down on evolving technology designed to circumvent our safety laws, to refining tools that help identify individuals who pose a danger to themselves or others. We look forward to passing this legislation in the next legislative session.”

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The amendments to H.5046 were only the coming attractions to what this greasy duo had in store for the citizens of Massachusetts.

As indicated, it was Mariano who charged the current chair of the judiciary committee, Michael Day, to do this top-down revamp of the Bay State’s gun laws. In response, Micahel Day had the dog and pony show of a “gun law listening tour,” where Day must have taken the results, crumbled them up, and lit them on fire. I followed closely the gun law listening tour and Day ignored nearly every concern that people had, except for what the commie mommies asked for. They got the service they demanded.

The rest is all history as they say, right? As previously reported, Day – securely seated as the chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary – rolled out HD. 4420, billed by the Gun Owners Action League as the Lawful Citizens Imprisonment Act. The bill has severe implications for the Second Amendment and would essentially nullify it in Massachusetts. This was a “hold my beer” to New York and New Jersey’s “Bruen response laws.”

Due to citizen involvement and activism, the bill was shelved for the summer recess. Day’s puppetmaster Mariano penned a letter about the stalling and subsequent overhaul of the bill, HERE, but it’s more appropriate to include Mariano’s statement about NYSRPA v. Bruen, side-by-side with a statement by a former politician, also from his Democratic party, on civil rights.

“As you have heard me say many times, the Bruen decision fundamentally changed how courts review state gun laws and immediately jeopardized aspects of the laws that have made our Commonwealth a national leader in reducing gun violence. While the House’s commitment to pursuing a comprehensive update remains steadfast, a new legal landscape will be the greatest threat to those efforts.” – Massachusetts House Speaker Mariano July 24, 2023

 

“The unwelcomed, unwanted, unwarranted and force-induced intrusion upon the campus of the University of Alabama today of the might of the Central Government offers frightful example of the oppression of the rights, privileges and sovereignty of this State by officers of the Federal Government.” – Governor George Wallace (Alabama) June 11, 1963

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I have no pity for Representative Michael Day, because he is a despicable human being who lied to constituents – although he really is being controlled here. How else is he supposed to hold onto his seat if he doesn’t make daddy dearest Mariano happy? It was Mariano that got the marching orders to ensure totalitarian rule can continue in the Bay State and it was Mariano that ordered his lap dog Micahel Day to do his bidding.

If we weren’t talking about power-hungry people who are more motivated by their redshirted donors and whatever offerings the deep state cabal has to offer than their constituents’ needs, I’d almost feel bad for them because of the manipulations they allow to happen. 

Both Day and Mariano have no issues with surrendering moral rectitude for whatever shiny prize awaits them; just a couple of dogs being wagged by a tail.

We’ve spent a lot of time focusing on Day, we need to remember that Mariano is the slimy force behind all this. Mariano controls the bills and whether or not they see the light of day. It’s important that the citizens petition their government and I would like to remind everyone they should reach out to both Representatives Ronald Joseph Mariano and Michael Seamus Day. Send them letters, emails, tweets (or whatever we’re calling posts on X these days), Facebook comments – the whole nine yards. Engage in every single social media post they make.

In your letters, emails, and phone calls, be respectful, but forceful. Tell them how HD 4420 will affect you and your family. Don’t send form letters. Tell them “No!” to HD 4420 and any and all future so-called “gun control” measures. If Massachusetts – the most dangerous state in New England – has had the best laws, as is often repeated, then there’s no need to change them – unless they’re talking about repeal.

Also reach out to your specific representatives in the Mass. House and Senate.

Not a Massachusetts resident? No problem. I assure you these individuals want to hear from everyone in the United States. HD 4420 would affect those traveling to and through the Bay State as well.

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Representative Ronald Mariano
State House
24 Beacon St. Room 356
Boston, MA, 02133
Email: [email protected] and [email protected]

Speaker Ron Mariano (@RonMariano) / X

 

Representative Michael Day
State House
24 Beacon St.Room 136
Boston, MA, 02133

Email: [email protected] 

Representative Michael Day (@representative_day) • Instagram photos and videos
Representative Michael Day (twitter.com)
State Representative Michael Day | Facebook

For more information about Ronald Mariano and Michael Day’s modern-day take on Democrats’ Massive Resistance to civil rights, visit Gun Owners’ Action League’s page dedicated to it HERE. Also tune into two GOAL Podcast episodes covering the measure in greater detail:

Official Podcast of Gun Owners’ Action League: Jim Wallace and Jon Green, Deconstructing HD.4420

GOAL’s Mike Harris and Toby Leary of Cape Gun Works, following up on HD.4420

 

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