Beacon Hill Democrats reached a deal on a gun reform bill Wednesday that would ban people under the age of 21 from owning semiautomatic rifles or shotguns and rein in the use of untraceable “ghost guns” that have become popular in recent years.
Lawmakers picked up a key document around 12:30 p.m. that is necessary to file an accord and top negotiators said they plan to take final votes on the proposal this week after months of backroom talks that were closed to the public.
“Largely, the goal here was to make sure that Massachusetts was safer, that residents were safer, that gun owners were safer, that the general public is safer. We’ve got the lowest incidence of gun violence in the country. That’s going to be even lower as our intent and our goal with this law,” Rep. Michael Day, a Stoneham Democrat who co-chairs the Judiciary Committee, told reporters.
Day and Sen. Cindy Creem, a Newton Democrat who also heads up the Judiciary Committee, said the House and Senate plan to take final votes on the proposal this week in an attempt to ship it to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk before the weekend.
Though the bill bars those under 21 from owning semiautomatic rifles or shotguns, young people between the ages of 18 and 21 could still own and possess firearms with a firearm identification card.
Under current state law, an 18-year-old can obtain a firearms identification card, which allows them to purchase a semiautomatic rifle, according to an aide to Creem. The change proposed in the bill would require people to have a license to carry to purchase a semiautomatic rifle, which can be obtained once a person turns 21, the aide said.
Those under 18 could still use firearms under the direct supervision of a licensed adult for hunting, instruction, recreation, and participation in shooting sports, according to a summary of the bill shared ahead of its filing.
Lawmakers also proposed barring people from carrying firearms in government buildings, polling places, and schools. Municipalities would have the ability to opt-out their local buildings.
The bill updates the definition of an assault-style firearm in state law to include modern firearms and characteristics that are not covered by the state’s existing ban.
Democratic leaders in both chambers agreed to allow the continued ownership, possession, transfer, and sale of assault-style firearms that are legally owned and registered in the state. The bill restricts the transfer of “legacy” large-capacity feeding devices, according to the summary.
The proposal also tackles so-called “ghost guns” by requiring the serialization of all firearms, including those that are homemade, and creates penalties for the “possession, creation, and transfer” of all untraceable guns. Guns made before 1968 are exempt from the policy.
Democrats pitched banning the sale of 3-D printers specifically marketed as capable of making firearms.
But at least one Republican who was appointed to the private negotiating group said he would not support the final deal. Rep. Joe McKenna, a Sutton Republican, said the bill represents a “solution in search of a problem.”
“I do appreciate that the (final) version is perhaps more conservative than either the House or the Senate original versions. But at the end of the day, I think that it simply will be a signal to those law-abiding Second Amendment gun owners that they have another hoop to jump through that they’ve been jumping through for decades to remain law-abiding citizens,” McKenna told the Herald outside the House Chamber. “It’s going to create a burden and a significant cost to local and state law enforcement and to licensing authorities.”
