CITIZENS UNITE TO CHALLENGE THE MASSACHUSETTS FIREARMS BAN

Update:

On August 22, 2018 attorneys representing GOAL and the named plaintiffs in our civil suit against Attorney General Maura Healey et al filed an appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

The appeal notes, The United States Supreme Court recently rejected a Massachusetts ban of common arms, reaffirming, “The Court has held that ‘the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding,’ District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 582 [ ] (2008), and that this ‘Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States,’ McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742, 750 [ ] (2010).”

Click here to read the brief in full

GOAL looks forward to this case continuing and will update with more information as it becomes available.

1/23/17

The Gun Owners’ Action League announced today that, together with individual Massachusetts citizens and small businesses, it has filed suit to end Massachusetts’ unconstitutional bans that prevent law-abiding, responsible citizens from buying and keeping in their homes the most popular rifles in the country, as well as most standard capacity magazines.

The Gun Owners Action League is a named plaintiff in the suit and is joined by individual and business plaintiffs who have had their Second Amendment rights infringed by Massachusetts.









Massachusetts prohibits the acquisition and possession of popular firearms and standard capacity magazines that are lawfully possessed by millions of law-abiding, responsible individuals across the nation. Attorney General Healey issued a Notice of Enforcement on July 20, 2016, retroactively expanding Massachusetts’ illegal prohibition of constitutionally protected firearms and magazines to include tens of thousands of Massachusetts Compliant Firearms that had been transferred in Massachusetts with the Commonwealth’s approval for almost 20 years.

The lawsuit filed today in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts requests injunctive relief to protect law-abiding Massachusetts citizens from further violations of their Second Amendment right to choose effective firearms for defense of their homes. Plaintiffs also seek to invalidate Attorney General Healey’s clearly unconstitutional, retroactive declaration that tens of thousands of law-abiding citizens of Massachusetts violated the law over almost 20 years in firearms transactions that were approved by the Commonwealth at the time they occurred. As James Wallace, the Executive Director of the Gun Owners’ Action League noted, however, “If there is anything positive about AG Healey’s unprecedented and unilateral politically motived attack on lawful citizens, it is that our plight has been pushed onto the national civil rights stage. The Second Amendment is a civil right and as such cannot be allowed to be abused for perceived political gain.”

The Gun Owners’ Action League is a 100% member supported organization whose sole focus is to protect and restore Second Amendment rights for Massachusetts citizens. The programs sponsored and developed by Gun Owners’ Action League are supported by competitors, sportsmen, recreational shooters, and law enforcement throughout the state. Mr. Wallace noted that, “The Massachusetts citizens filing this lawsuit wish to express gratitude for the assistance and guidance of the National Rifle Association in fighting for the Second Amendment rights of all citizens of Massachusetts.

Together we are drawing a line in the sand where Massachusetts’ gun control agenda tramples the fundamental individual right to defend oneself and family in the home. Such unconstitutional treatment of the rights of Massachusetts citizens will no longer be tolerated.”

Brent Carlton, a spokesman for Commonwealth Second Amendment (a gun rights advocacy group that is not a party to this suit) agreed, stating “We are grateful that these brave citizens are coming forward, and want to thank the NRA for its support of gun rights in Massachusetts. The collaborative nature of this action is a great example of the unity among gun owners in Massachusetts and across the country when their fundamental rights are threatened.”

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Click here to read the lawsuit