Today, with a vote of 38-0, the Massachusetts state Senate passed a version of the Amendment 1 legislation with less infringements than what was passed yesterday in the House. The original Amendment 1 attached to House Bill 3951 would ban “any device which attaches to a [firearm]…that is designed to increase the rate of discharge” of a firearm with a very broad and overreaching definition. For example, it would have banned firearm modifications such as match grade triggers, muzzle brakes, and ergonomic changes that are commonly done by law-abiding gun owners to make their firearms more suitable for self-defense, competition, hunting, or even overcoming disability. The version of this Amendment passed by the senate has a much narrower definition of these devices to only include “bump stocks” and “trigger cranks. In addition, it does not ban these devices, but puts them under Section 121, Chapter 140 of the Commonwealth general laws by amending the definition of “machine gun.”
Under this legislation, a “Bump Stock” is defined as a device for a semiautomatic firearm that increases the rate of fire achievable with such firearm by using energy from the recoil of the firearm to generate a reciprocating action that facilitates repeated activation of the trigger. A “Trigger Crank” is defined as any device to be attached to a semi-automatic firearm that repeatedly activates the trigger of the firearm through the use of a lever or other part that is turned in a circular motion, but does not include any firearm initially designed and manufactured to fire through the use of a crank or lever.
Having been passed in the Senate, this proposal will move to a Conference Committee. While conferees have not yet been appointed, please contact your Representative and Senator and urge them to oppose this gun control legislation. Find your legislators here. Stay tuned to www.nraila.org and your email inbox for further updates on this bill.
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