Representative Michael Day Reveals Gun Safety Bill One Year After Supreme Court Decision
On Monday (Jul. 3rd), Representative Michael Day (D - 31st Middlesex) introduced legislation that would reinforce Massachusetts’ position as a national leader in firearm safety. The Judiciary Committee co-chair unveiled the sweeping proposal just over a year after the U.S. Supreme Court delivered the landmark decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022). The decision by the Court loosened restrictions needed to conceal carry a weapon in public, leading legislators nationwide to take action at the state level to combat the ruling.
In response to the ruling last year, House Speaker Ron Mariano (D - 3rd Norfolk) released a statement that tasked Rep. Day with researching and proposing an omnibus bill that would bolster the existing firearm laws in Massachusetts. In his statement, Speaker Mariano highlighted the need to “make necessary improvements due to a lack of decisive federal action.” Rep. Day’s proposed legislation, HD.4420, is a culmination of these efforts designed to limit firearm violence in Massachusetts.
The legislation, outlined in a press release by Rep. Day’s office would “modernize Massachusetts firearms laws, stem the flow of illegal firearms into the Commonwealth and increase protections from gun violence.” Aiming to decrease the number of untraceable firearms, the bill would aid law enforcement by establishing an “enhanced tracing system” to locate firearms and “modernizing the existing firearm registration system.” These untraceable firearms, also known as “ghost guns,” are weapons that can be assembled with 3D lasers or at-home kits. Since they are privately assembled, there is no registration process nor is there a background check required to purchase the assembly kits. In 2021 alone, approximately 20,000 ghost guns were reported to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as being recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations. Due to the fact that ghost guns “lack the serial numbers marked on other firearms,” officials have an “exceedingly difficult time tracing a ghost gun found at a crime scene back to an individual purchaser.” Rep. Day’s legislation would work to eradicate the existence of ghost guns in the Commonwealth, even offering a service to “allow individuals not in compliance with gun laws and regulations to surrender illegal firearms anonymously and with immunity from prosecution.
To combat the increasing levels of gun violence in the Commonwealth, the bill would also prohibit carrying a firearm while intoxicated and require live firearm training for those who wish to seek a carrying license. HD.4420 would also clarify where licensed individuals would be able to legally carry by “explicitly prohibiting the carrying of firearms in schools, polling places, government buildings, and into private property without the permission of the owner.”
The proposed legislation earned praise from Speaker Mariano.
"It is my hope that the work we do here will not only make Massachusetts a safer place to live, but will serve as a national model for Congress and other states,” he said in a statement released with Day’s proposal. “I want to thank Chairman Day for working diligently to produce a comprehensive bill, and I look forward to hearing from Members, constituents, and outside experts as this bill moves through the legislative process.”
While the bill has produced support from those in the legislature, gun rights advocates have called the legislation an “unprecedented” attack on the Second Amendment. Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League, told the Boston Herald that the legislation “is an abhorrent anti-civil rights effort.”
HD.4420 is expected to be brought before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, where public comment will be sought at a future hearing.