Massachusetts announces first-in-nation regulations of handguns

BOSTON (AP) -- Massachusetts put the nation's strictest gun regulations into effect Monday, using consumer-protection rules to ban cheap "Saturday night specials" and require childproof locks on any

Monday, April 3rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BOSTON (AP) -- Massachusetts put the nation's strictest gun regulations into effect Monday, using consumer-protection rules to ban cheap "Saturday night specials" and require childproof locks on any gun sold in the state.

The state will contact gun manufacturers and sellers within 15 days to inform them of the regulations, which also require safety
warnings with each gun, tamper-resistant serial numbers, and indicators on semiautomatic handguns that tell that tell if a
bullet is in the chamber.

"Massachusetts now has the most comprehensive and toughest gun laws in the nation," said John Rosenthal of Stop Handgun Violence Inc.

The Gun Owners' Action League said the new enforcement is unnecessary because strict federal and state regulations are already in place.

In an unprecedented legal maneuver, then-Attorney General Scott Harshbarger wrote the rules in 1997, bypassing the Legislature. He
relied instead on the attorney general's broad powers to regulate consumer products. Those powers do not specifically mention guns.

Thirty-four other states have passed legislation that would allow them to regulate handguns as they would other consumer products, but Massachusetts is the first to actually impose such regulations.

Attorney General Thomas Reilly said investigators will begin spot checks of gun stores within 15 days. Reilly said he is
applying consumer protection standards to guns, just as the state already does with toys, automobiles and other products.

The Gun Owners' Action League said that educational programs sponsored by gun owners have succeeded in significantly reducing firearms accidents, despite an increase in gun ownership.

League spokesman Kevin Sowyrda accused the attorney general of exploiting the issue to increase his own popularity.

"This is an assault on veterans and an assault on gun owners," he said.

The National Rifle Association declined to comment.

Also Monday, the Maryland House was expected to take up legislation requiring built-in locks on all new guns sold. The bill has already passed the Senate, and the governor is eager to sign it.

The new Massachusetts regulations go further than changes announced last month by gunmaker Smith & Wesson. The company, under threat of a federal lawsuit, agreed to provide external safety locks on all of its handguns within 60 days and built-in locks
within two years.

One of the Massachusetts requirements is that serial numbers be tamper-resistant, either placed inside the gun, such as in the barrel, or imprinted so that they can only be read with an infrared detector.

Another requirement is that the gun have a lock, such as an attached key-operated lock or a combination lock built into the gun that blocks the barrel.

Another is that semiautomatic handguns have a so-called load indicator, a device already installed in some guns, that tells if a bullet is in the chamber.

Built-in child proofing mechanism would also be required, which could include increasing the trigger-tension to at least a 10-pound pull, changing the firing mechanism to make it inoperable for child-sized hands, or requiring a series of motions to fire the gun.

The regulations also ban cheap handguns known as Saturday Night Specials.

A Superior Court judge struck down Harshbarger's rules in 1998. But the Supreme Judicial Court, the state's highest court, ruled
last June that Harshbarger had acted within his authority when he "sought to take preventative action as to defective handguns."

The court returned the case to Superior Court for further proceedings, and in December it, too, ruled in favor of the regulations.

The court battle ended March 20, when the gun industry failed to meet a deadline for further appeals.

Rosenthal, the gun-control advocate who said he owns a handgun and shoots skeet, said guns rightly should be regulated.

"If we were talking about hamburgers killing 90 people a year, do you think we would allow the meatpacking industry to go
unregulated? No way," he said.

But Edward L. Veduccio, the owner of E & J Guns in Newton, said enforcement would make guns more expensive and cut into the profits of his four-person business.

"Do you know how many gun companies won't sell here? They're boycotting the state, and that's hurting business," he said. "If a customer wants a particular firearm, I can't get it for them."

Veduccio said he knows of a few Massachusetts gun store owners who have already moved their shops to New Hampshire. He said he has already scouted out sites for his own shop, after 33 years in Newton.
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On the Net:

Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly:http://www.ago.state.ma.us

Handgun Control: http://www.handguncontrol.org

Gun Owners' Action League: http://www.goal.org

National Rifle Association: http://www.nrahq.