Guns.com: 19 Mayors Back Mass. AGs ‘Assault Weapon’ Law Expansion
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s gun ban by edict last month was met by outrage from gun owners and gun rights groups across the nation. Healey rolled out her support this week, which consisted almost completely of mayors who are members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the anti-gun group financed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Via Guns.com:
Last month, Healey announced her office was arbitrarily reinterpreting the Commonwealth’s 1998 ban to include gun actions rather than cosmetic features, resulting in an immediate ban on many semi-auto firearms. While some in the state have voiced opinion that her move may be an overstep of her authority, and the trade group for the firearms industry advised last week they will see the AG in court, Healey is picking up quick allies.
On Thursday, a group of 19 sitting mayors led by Newtown’s Setti Warren issued a statement expressing their strong support for Healey.
“We have called again and again for national solutions to gun violence, to increase mental health funding, and to end the sale of military-style weapons to civilians, because our cities are not war zones,” reads the letter.
Among the signatories were Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, Worcester’s Joseph Petty, Lowell’s Edward Kennedy, Jonathan Mitchell of New Bedford, Brockton’s Bill Carpenter, and E. Denise Simmons of Cambridge — more than half of the Commonwealth’s 10 largest cities in terms of population. Of the 19 city leaders, all but four are members of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization and all are declared Democrats.
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