Firearms Policy Coalition has released the following statement regarding the Assault Weapons Guidance issued by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on July 20, 2016:

Yesterday, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey banned the sale of “copycat” semi-automatic weapons by executive fiat.

A single government official decided that a state regulatory scheme which has been consistently enforced since 1998 should be radically re-interpreted, and issued a decree that puts law-abiding people at serious risk of criminal liability.

Massachusetts’ assault weapons ban listed particular firearms to be banned by name and also banned “copies” or “duplicates” of same. It also contains a features test, stating that any semiautomatic rifle, pistol, or shotgun that had two or more of the listed features is covered by the ban. For the last 18 years, gun manufacturers have produced Massachusetts-compliant semiautomatics and dealers have sold them in compliance with law and enforcement practices.

Ms. Healey is, apparently, deliberately flouting the laws she is sworn to protect and uphold.

Under Healey’s new directive, most guns manufactured for nearly the past century would be banned since their “operating system” is essentially the same as those she holds to be banned under statute.

Attorney General Healey’s directive can be found at: http://www.mass.gov/ago/public-safety/assault-weapons-guidance.pdf.

FPC strongly opposes this dangerous and likely unlawful abuse of power by Attorney General Healey and stands ready to assist civil rights groups in their efforts to protect law-abiding gun owners and Second Amendment civil rights.