PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
Gun group seeks more records from attorney general :: 01/10/2017
BOSTON -- The gun rights group that has spent months fighting Attorney General Maura Healey's enforcement actions around the state's assault weapons ban is now appealing her refusal to release certain public records.
The Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts announced Monday that it had filed an appeal with Secretary of State William Galvin's office over its request for records connected to Healey's July 2016 announcement that she would step up enforcement of the 1998 ban to crack down on copies or duplicates of prohibited guns.
The appeal letter, dated Friday, asks that Healey be directed to respond to GOAL's 10-part request, arguing that relevant documents "were not provided because the AG has both misconstrued GOAL's requests and have taken an inappropriately broad view of any potential exemptions to the Public Records Law."
Attorneys for GOAL wrote to Healey's office on Aug. 16, 2016 requesting documents Healey consulted or relied on in issuing her enforcement notice.
On Dec. 21, the group received a CD containing 1,048 pages of records, according to the appeal. Assistant Attorney General Lorraine Tarrow wrote in a letter to GOAL that other materials were withheld because they were covered under exemptions to the public records law that deal with ongoing investigations, the deliberative process or public safety matters.
In announcing the crackdown last summer, Healey said although the 1998 law bans copies or duplicates of assault weapons, 10,000 "copycat" guns were sold in Massachusetts in 2015. Her office has since said that illegal assault weapon sales have "effectively ended" after the issuance of the enforcement notice.
GOAL has vigorously opposed the weapons crackdown, arguing that Healey overstepped her authority and acted to advance a political agenda.
The group's records request sought documents quantifying "incidents of violence or other violations of criminal law" involving assault weapons defined under law, "copies of the Colt AR-15 Assault Weapon," and "Norinco, Mitchell and Poly Technologies Avtomat Kalashnikovs (all models) or replicas or duplicates."
Additionally, GOAL requested communications involved in "deciding not to hold a public hearing" on the notice; documents Healey consulted in deciding which weapons were or were not included in her notice; and documents she uses to determine which weapons count as copies or duplicates.
Tarrow wrote that the enforcement notice is a part "of an ongoing plan of investigation and enforcement" and the deliberative processes around it are "inextricably linked to our open investigations."
The withheld records included interagency communications discussing open legal issues and investigatory findings, she said.
Also withheld were spreadsheets containing details of gun sales and registration information, and the names and statements of people Healey's office communicated with about the assault weapons ban. Tarrow wrote that disclosing such information would jeopardize the safety of and privacy of individual gun-owners and would put the people with whom the office communicated "at risk of retaliation by others who do not share their views."
Separately on Monday, Healey announced a settlement with Worcester gun dealer The Gun Parlor Inc., which has agreed to bring its policies into compliance with state law and pay up to $35,000 for selling handguns not listed on the state's approved roster and Glocks that do not meet state safety regulations.
In a press release, Healey's office described the settlement and her enforcement notice as part of her "efforts to enhance gun safety and to assure compliance with Massachusetts gun laws and regulations."
http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/20170110/gun-group-seeks-more-records-from-attorney-general
