Thanks to your calls, e-mails and active involvement, Thursday the Massachusetts Senate stripped some of the most egregious anti-gun provisions from Senate Bill 2265, including the elimination of the discretionary component which would have created new “may issue” FID issuance standards by providing issuing authorities with unlimited discretion to deny firearms identification cards. The Senate adopted Amendment 63.1 by a 28 to 10 vote. Other significant changes were made, including the adoption of an amendment which addressed the provision denying a person who has had their firearms seized with the ability to have their personal property transferred within ten days to a lawfully licensed individual.
As amended, S.2265 passed in the state Senate and has been sent to the Massachusetts House of Representatives for concurrence. The earliest the state House could act on this legislation would be Monday, July 21. Since the House version of this bill, H.4285, is pending in the Senate, we expect the differences in these two bills to be ironed out and additional changes made in a conference committee. The NRA will be advocating that the conference committee retain these important changes made in the state Senate and we will continue to oppose any additional language that infringes on the rights of gun owners in the Commonwealth.
Your NRA-ILA will be closely monitoring the movement of this legislation and will keep you updated as it progresses.