On July 25, 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed into law a sweeping new gun control bill – H 4885. Titled “An Act Modernizing Firearms Laws,” the 116-page law implements a wide array of gun control measures, touching on everything from outright bans on certain firearms to magazine restrictions to new registration and licensing schemes. The partisan bill – passed without a single Republican vote – is very complex. It restructures and amends Massachusetts’ existing gun laws and requires references to a multitude of different existing statutes to comprehend its vast scope.
On August 1, 2024, a citizen of Massachusetts and Commonwealth Second Amendment, Inc. filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of certain aspects of the new law. In the opening paragraph of the lawsuit, plaintiffs state, “recent amendments to Massachusetts firearms laws completely preclude people from applying for new handgun licenses—now, and continuing indefinitely into the future. The direct result is to ban all people in Massachusetts from possessing and carrying handguns—conduct that lies in the core of the Second Amendment’s protection—unless they already hold licenses.” Plaintiffs in this case allege that Massachusetts has in effect banned unlicensed (but otherwise qualified) persons from purchasing, possessing or carrying a handgun for at least three months without any means to become licensed due to the new requirements to obtain a License to Carry (LTC). This is because the new law requires issuance of a LTC before a person can purchase, possess or carry a handgun, however the Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police must certify and approve of a new LTC training curriculum which won’t be done until October 23, 2024, at the earliest.
We anticipate that many more lawsuits will be filed challenging various aspects of the new regulations in Massachusetts. Renzulli Law Firm will continue to monitor these developments and provide updates if and when these challenges are brought. If you have any questions about cases involving the Second Amendment or the firearm industry, please contact John F. Renzulli or Christopher Renzulli.