Maura Healey Vs. The 2nd Amendment

This past week, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced a new interpretation of an existing ‘assault weapons’ ban that has sent Republicans into a gun buying frenzy.

On a typical day, gun-dealers statewide would sell about 50+ assault weapons, but over 2000 “military-style rifles,” were sold Wednesday in response to Healey’s actions, reported the Boston Globe.

“Here in Massachusetts, 10,000 assault weapons were sold just in the last year — each one nearly identical to the rifle used to gun down 49 innocent people in Orlando,” said Healey.

Quickly mobilized by Healey’s actions, Massachusetts Republicans are doing everything they can to defend their Second Amendment rights.

Over 400 Massachusetts College Republicans rallied together in less than 24 hours outside of the Massachusetts statehouse to show their opposition to the Attorney General, reported Campus Reform. Additionally, several local statesmen have publicly come out against the new measures and donations have been flooding in to the GOP.

The law was originally interpreted to ban the sale of Colt AR-15 and AK-47s, but according to the Boston Globe, the law only banned those specific weapons, and gun manufacturers have created similar weapons to get around the ban.

Gun rights activists like Jordan Stein from Liberty University, however, claim that “she is banning something that wouldn’t have an effect anyways.”

According to Fox News, “FBI Uniform Crime Statistics show zero murders were committed in Massachusetts in 2014 using rifles of any sort. While most mass shootings in the U.S. involved a rifle, the vast majority of gun deaths nationwide did not.”

“This law is a clear violation of the Second Amendment and shouldn’t be on the books in the first place,” said Stein. “Now people who are legitimately using these weapons for their personal and home defense will be left unarmed and vulnerable.”

Many people will remember the Los Angeles Riots of 1992, that took the lives of over 50 civilians. As buildings were being burned to the ground, one Korean store owner refused to lose the business that he had spent over 20 years building. That was when he took his ‘assault weapon’ and fired into the air to stop hundreds of looters from coming near.

According to Stein, there are multiple cases where homeowners have been targeted for armed robberies and they were able to successfully defend themselves thanks to their heavier weapons.

“Let’s say you live out in the country where I live, and it takes a long time for police to get to you—there are similar rural areas in MA. I would want to keep an AK-47 as my home defense gun. I would want to have as much firepower as I can because I don’t know who could be invading my home, what is their intent, if they are high on drugs and how well they are armed.”

There are several stories from over the years of so-called ‘assault-weapons’ being used for defense. Home intruders have been stopped, robberies of businesses have been prevented, and students have defended their college from an attack, according to policy.mic.

“While her intention may be to prevent crime, I’m afraid this will only result in more deaths at the hands of people who don’t follow the laws,” said Stein.

Read at The Rabble-Rouser