A Republican state senator backed by a coalition of gun rights advocates plans to file a collection of payments this month that try to repeal a significant firearms legislation Gov. Maura Healey accepted final 12 months.
Sen. Peter Durant of Spencer mentioned he’s getting ready six completely different items of laws that concentrate on a gun legislation high Beacon Hill Democrats have hailed as a key measure to save lots of lives, create safer communities, and preserve accountable possession of firearms however critics argue impede elementary Second Modification rights.
Durant mentioned one invoice will name for a full repeal of the legislation whereas the remainder will take intention at sections of the statute protecting gun registrations, a ban on automated rifles and shotguns, reside hearth coaching necessities, a nonresident ban on semiautomatic magazines, and a “pre-ban” on magazines.
The Spencer Republican mentioned the gun legislation accepted final summer season “unjustly infringed upon” Second Modification rights and undermined “the freedoms of law-abiding citizens.”
“First and foremost, we’re calling for a full repeal of this restrictive law. This is the ideal solution, a return to the freedoms that have been unjustly taken away. While we recognize that this will be an uphill battle, it is a fight worth pursuing,” Durant mentioned outdoors the State Home Thursday afternoon.
A legislative push to erase the gun legislation from the state’s books comes after a bunch of gun retailer homeowners and firearm homeowners managed to accumulate greater than 90,000 signatures to position a query on the 2026 poll asking voters to repeal the legislation.
A number of lawsuits have been filed in varied courts in Massachusetts difficult the legislation, together with on the federal stage by an area affiliate of the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation and proprietor of a gun store in Bellingham.
Healey defended the statute final 12 months, arguing that “strong gun laws save lives.”
“This law is the state’s most significant gun safety legislation in a decade. It will make Massachusetts safer as soon as it goes into effect, including by keeping assault-style weapons that are a danger to our communities off our streets, and by keeping guns out of government buildings and courts,” she mentioned in a letter to Secretary of State William Galvin.
A spokesperson for Healey didn’t instantly reply to a Herald inquiry Thursday.
Durant’s push to repeal the gun legislation drew help from The Civil Rights Coalition, the group of gun homeowners who’re backing the 2026 poll query that will get rid of the statute.
Toby Leary, head of the coalition and proprietor of Cape Gun Works, mentioned firearms homeowners had been trying to “claw back our rights from the very people that swore an oath to protect them.”
“Thomas Jefferson made clear, whenever the government goes beyond the limits of the Constitution, a nullification is the act and the rightful remedy. If this is the rightful remedy for unconstitutional federal laws, then it is also the rightful remedy for unconstitutional state laws as well,” Leary mentioned.
The legislation bans individuals below 21 from proudly owning semiautomatic rifles or shotguns, outlaws untraceable firearms often known as “ghost guns,” expands who can petition the court docket for an excessive danger safety order, and bars carrying weapons in sure locations, amongst different issues.
Lawmakers additionally wrote into the statute a variety of recent coaching and licensing necessities like the necessity for reside hearth coaching, although the Legislature took steps final 12 months to delay a few of their implementation dates after acknowledging drafting errors.
Whereas supporters of the invoice have argued a repeal of the legislation will make it more durable for legislation enforcement to maintain individuals protected from gun violence, critics have mentioned the statute makes it more durable for gun store homeowners to remain in enterprise and doubtlessly incriminates on a regular basis residents.
Leary mentioned the legislation brought on “irreparable harm to the people by the whims of elected officials catering to the anti-gun, ant-civil rights lobby.”
“Who among us would stand for their rights to be treated the same as the Second Amendment? Are we okay with a speech control advisory board being formed that would regulate speech and make recommendations about what is permitted or is prohibited speech?” Leary mentioned. “It is preposterous to think of that but that’s exactly what Chapter 135 does.”
Earlier Herald supplies had been used on this report.
