By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Massachusetts lawmakers are expected to debate a revised and re-numbered gun control bill Wednesday, and Bay State gun rights activists will be on the defensive throughout, indicated Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League.
In an email blast to Massachusetts gun owners, Wallace declared that the new measure, H.4135, cannot be fixed.
“Keeping with their fast-paced, sleight of hand, Houdini like procedures,” Wallace said in his email message, “we understand that amendments to H.4135 are due by 5:00 pm (Tuesday). That means that no one will have time to ensure that the language was not changed internally before being released. It also means that people will have no time to review amendments prior to the bill hitting the floor.”
The bill spans more than 120 pages and is loaded with bad news for gun owners. Wallace alleged the bill’s supporters, in an effort to avoid the “normal bill process,” added the bill’s language to an existing budget bill.
“Then House Ways & Means, with no public vote record, conjured and released what amounts to a ‘ghost bill’,” Wallace asserted, “H.4135, in order to get it to the House floor for a vote on Wednesday, October 18.”
In a telephone interview, Wallace told TGM “This is what happens when you combine arrogance, ignorance and bigotry.”
GOAL has issued a seven-page critique of the legislation, as it appeared Monday, but Wallace acknowledged the final package could change, and until it becomes law, it cannot be challenged in court. There is a place online where amendments can be viewed.
The Democrat-controlled Massachusetts Legislature can essentially “do whatever they want,” Wallace said. However, he did not the bill might not have a smooth ride if it reaches the state Senate.
