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Maine vs. Mass gun laws
A reasonably balanced article on claims by Massachusetts that Maine's more liberal gun laws are a problem for them.
On the other hand, since Boston is on a roll for its highest murder rate in a decade, while Portland had a murder rate of 2 per 100,000, one might wonder whether Massachusetts might want to adopt Maine's laws.
4 Comments
Nor are Massachusetts required to undergo any background check for private sales. Private sales are only allowed where both parties have the required state license, which requires a background check to obtain, but that's the only check required for the 5-6 year life of the license, regardless of the number or frequency of purchases.
in mass there is no 5 day wating period the permit given by the state is issued by the local cheif and has sole discretion on its issue. the nics check was created to get rid of the 5 day wait.there is no federal check on private firearms sales.
we in masss are limited to 4(four) private sales a year and can only be sold to someone with the proper permit.after that all sales must go thru fed licensed dealers
That John Rosenthal who owns the Mass Pike billboard is a kook. I've seen him on TV deliberately misrepresenting the so called assualt weapons ban. He argued that why should criminals get to use high capacity mags when Police could not. An out + out lie.
He also has a long history with that billboard. It used to tout the 1998 new Mass gun laws as the
reason Mass had a low gun fatality rate. The billboards big punch line was "Gun Laws Work". In the last few years it became obvious that they don't so his new billboard goes after NH, Maine + Vermont. Even local community leaders complained about his old billboard as kids were dying in the streets.
The new billboard complains about trafficing from the northern states but mysteriously, the city of Lawrence (a stones throw from the NH border) just had a streak of something like 20 months without a homicide of any kind. Local policing and community groups are credited with the good results. No word on whether Rosenthal knows why the gun laws in Maine + NH are not affecting a city like Lawrence.
Local policing and community groups will solve the problem of inner city violence. Not regulating some guy sitting at his kitchen table in maine.
Maybe it is "reasonably balanced," but it doesn't seem to be well informed:
"Federal law already calls for purchasers to wait five days and undergo a criminal background check before buying a gun from licensed firearms dealers."
No one who can pass the NICS check has to wait at all, under Federal law.