Politics & Government

Gun Owners Action League Blasts DeLeo Proposal

Firearm group plans on going through gun control legislation "with a fine-toothed comb."

One of the state’s largest gun owner organizations is taking shots at a new gun control proposal forwarded by Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, calling it “a disappointment.”

In a short statement on May 27, Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League, said the organization was looking for something that it could support, “from the get go,” adding that the group would be analyzing the proposal in the days to come.

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“It was very apparent at the press conference with who was standing at the podium and who wasn’t just how this bill was going to be drafted,” he said in a statement.

Wallace was most disturbed, however, by language that expands the suitability requirement of firearms identification cards, especially surrounding “good reason” requirements to apply for access to weapons, suggesting that the expansion proposal might be a violation of the Constitution.

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“To expand these requirements is unconscionable,” he noted, “and a possible constitutional violation that likely will not withstand scrutiny.”

Wallace added though that there were some aspects of the bill the group could support, especially around mental health language and reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, so long as it was drafted correctly. 

“We will be going over this bill with a fine-toothed comb over the next 24 hours,” Wallace stated.

The proposal, “An Act Relative to the Reduction of Gun Violence,” hopes to address the gun violence issue by focusing on mental health, violence prevention, increased oversight, and addressing systemic problems already within the state’s numerous gun laws.


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