MA Defends Assault Weapons Ban In Court: AG Campbell

BOSTON, MA — Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell filed briefs in two ongoing legal cases to defend the state's gun control laws. The legal briefs were in response to the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen ruling in June, according to a statement.

In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a New York law that required people seeking a license to carry a handgun in public have "proper cause," The New York Times reported.

Campbell filed a brief Monday in the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Granata v. Campbell arguing that the state's regulations do not violate the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The regulations prohibit the commercial sale of handgun models that do not meet minimum safety requirements to protect against accidents like explosion or unintended discharge.

Cambell also filed a brief Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in National Association for Gun Rights v. Campbell. This brief opposes an effort to temporarily block the Massachusetts ban on the sale and possession of assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines.

Campbell said in a statement that these guns "pose an inordinate risk to the safety of the public and law enforcement officers, with no meaningful utility for individual self-defense."

In September, an out-of-state gun advocacy group filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn an assault weapons law in Massachusetts, part of a larger effort by DC-based National Association for Gun Rights to overturn firearms bans.

Massachusetts enshrined an assault weapons ban in state law in 1998, which was expanded in 2016.

Campbell characterized the Massachusetts gun control regulations as "common sense" measures intended to protect residents from gun violence.

“Under my leadership, Massachusetts will continue to lead when it comes to preventing gun violence and that means defending our common sense gun laws that keep families safe,” Campbell said in a statement. “Today, we are calling on the Courts to uphold laws that protect all of us, especially our children, from the deadly use of combat-style assault weapons, weapons with large-capacity magazines and weapons that do not meet minimum safety requirements.”

Legislation proposed by state Sen. Michael Moore (D-Millbury) last month would strengthen current state law prohibiting the purchase, possession, and use of silencers by amending the definition of “silencer” to mirror the definition in federal law.

The bill is intended to strengthen "enforcement capabilities and protect public safety by helping to keep these devices out of the hands of dangerous individuals," according to the statement.

See related: Gun Group Sues Massachusetts To End Assault Weapons Ban