BOSTON - The Massachusetts Senate passed its gun reform bill Thursday after hours of debate by a vote of 37 to 3.
Since the bill was introduced last week, 79 amendments were added and senators needed to hash them out before sending the bill back to the state House of Representatives.
What You Need To Know
- The Massachusetts Senate passed its gun reform bill Thursday after hours of debate by a vote of 37 to 3
- Seventy-nine amendments were tacked onto the bill, and senators needed to hash them out before sending the bill back to the state House
- The Senate bill is an amended version of what the House presented in the fall
- Senators spent hours Thursday going through each amendment
The Senate bill is an amended version of what the House presented in the fall. Senate leaders shortened the bill significantly and tightened up some of the language, and although it was presented as a consensus bill, it’s not a unanimous bill.
The Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) opposes the bill, and Senate Republicans asked many questions of Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem about the bill.
“Everyone I’ve talked to can’t figure out what the rush is," Jim Wallace, executive director of GOAL. "There is nothing in this bill that is going to stop crime, there is nothing in this bill that is going to help mental health. So, what are we doing? The criminals don’t care what they are going to pass there, it’s just the people I represent that have to deal with it.”
Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Middlesex & Norfolk, likes the bill and thinks this is an opportunity to make Massachusetts already strict gun laws even tighter by expanding red flag laws allowing police to take someone’s guns if they are experiencing a mental health crisis and banning Glock switches, a device which allows semi-automatic guns to shoot like automatic assault rifles.
“I believe it's a very strong bill," Spilka said. "It will really make our Commonwealth safer. We have strong gun safety laws now. This will even improve on that and help improve the safety for all our residents. We'll pass it and then we'll meet with the House. And I'm hoping that we get something to the governor's desk before the session is over.”
Before it can go to Gov. Maura Healey, the will head back to the House. State representatives can the either pass it to the governor, or, what will likely happen, appoint a conference committee where legislators from both the House and Senate will sit down in a room and come up with a compromised bill that will then go to the governor’s desk.
