Massachusetts House lawmakers unveil bill aimed at tightening state gun laws

BOSTON (AP) — A bill that would ban individuals from carrying a gun into a person’s home without their permission — and require key gun components be serialized and registered with the state — was unveiled by Massachusetts House lawmakers Thursday.

The bill would create new laws that bar firing guns at or near homes and outlaw carrying firearms while intoxicated. It would also prohibit carrying firearms in schools, polling places and government buildings.

The proposal includes an enhanced system to track firearms used in crimes to help curb the flow of illegal guns into the state. It would also modernize the existing firearm registration system while increasing the availability of firearm data for academic and policy use, lawmakers said.

The bill is in part a response to a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.

“While the Commonwealth annually ranks as one of the safest states in the entire country from gun violence, the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision nullified existing components of our gun laws that have made Massachusetts safer,” said House Speaker Ronald Mariano.

Gun rights advocates pushed back against the bill.

“It’s a train wreck,” said Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners’ Action League. “It’s a complete re-write of the gun laws. They claimed they were trying to make the gun laws compliant with Bruen but they went in the opposite direction.”

The bill will be the subject of a public hearing next week at the Massachusetts Statehouse.

The state Senate has yet to release their version of a gun bill. It will be up to both Democratic-led chambers to hammer out single bill to ship to Democratic Gov. Maura Healey’s desk for her signature before it can become law.