The National Shooting Sports Foundation and four Massachusetts firearms retailers filed a lawsuit against Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey at the U.S. District Court for issuing an “unconstitutionally vague, invalid, and unenforceable” ban on assault weapons and their “duplicates,” according to the lawsuit, filed Thursday.
The lawsuit stated that Healey’s office lacked communication with the firearms groups before enforcing the ban on July 20 of this year.
“The Attorney General unexpectedly and without any public notice or input announced that she now intends to enforce a state criminal firearms licensing statute … the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act,” the document stated.
NSSF Senior Vice President Larry Keane said in a press release that Healey’s ban enforcement violates their rights.
“Because criminal penalties can result due to Attorney General Healey’s unilateral reinterpretation of a state statute done without administrative process or input from affected parties, her office exceeded its lawful authority and retailers were deprived of their due process protections under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments,” Keane said in the release.
The four firearms retailers — Pullman Arms, Guns and Gear, Paper City Firearms and Grrr Gear — were not available for comment.
In a July 20 press conference, Healey said the ban was implemented after repeated instances in which manufacturers produce duplicate forms of certain weapons by curtailing their essential features.
“For far too long the gun industry has taken it upon itself to interpret our assault weapons ban,” Healey said. “They sell guns without certain features — for example, a flash suppressor or folding stock — small tweaks which do nothing to limit the deadliness of the weapon. They market these weapons as the legal version of a prohibited gun.”
Healey’s move came after the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12. Healey told The Daily Free Press in a June 14 article that the shooting serves as a reminder for the nation to end gun violence.
“We need to reinstitute the federal assault weapons ban and take these kinds of weapons out of the hands of people,” she said in the article. “People should not have access to these kinds of weapons; they keep showing up in these mass shootings. That needs to change.”
Thomas Fiedler, the dean of Boston University’s College of Communication, said the judicial review process could bring more light to the condition and clear ambiguities.
“Now what could happen is the gun dealers who are bringing the lawsuit they could regret this action,” Fiedler said, “because if a judicial review finds that the steps that she has taken are within her authority, then they are going to be almost permanently kept out of that business.”
Several Boston residents said they support Healey’s move, but others said matters aside from gun control should also be addressed equally.
Tara Saulnier, 32, of East Boston, said the justice system needs to be fixed for the ban to be implemented justly.
“Sure, you need some sort of gun control, but before you have some sort of gun control, you need to fix the justice system that puts people in jail for the stupidest things and gives them records for it,” she said. “Or the mental health system that makes people scared to go get mental health [assistance].”
Hannah Artner, 23, of Allston, said although she is in favor of gun control, the state should also be aware of the economic impacts that would befall gun sellers when the ban is implemented.
“It doesn’t surprise me that people are protesting it,” she said. “It is their livelihood, so it does make sense from an economic perspective why they would be upset. You can’t just drastically change something like that — you’re putting people out of business.”
Annmarie Smith, 54, of Dorchester, said she supports Healey’s efforts, adding that those who file lawsuits against Healey are motivated by economic incentives.
“I hope the attorney general wins,” she said. “It’s only money to them. They don’t care about the people on the other end of the gun or the other end of the bullets. There’s a lot of laws that need to be changed, and there’s more that can be done.”
