Bills will punish gun owners, advocates say

By Kyle Cheney

State House News Service / June 22, 2011

Boston.  Republican lawmakers and gun rights advocates testified yesterday that a series of gun control measures promoted by Democrats — requiring imprinted serial numbers on firearms, “microstamped’’ bullets, and annual limits on gun purchases — would punish lawful gun owners, increase costs, and hamper a 5,000-job industry.

“In order to try and curb and curtail the violence, we’re penalizing those that are not the culprits,’’ said state Representative Daniel Webster, a Pembroke Republican. “I would suggest to you that in the vast majority of cases, people that are misusing guns are doing it when they don’t have licenses to carry.’’

Critics of stricter controls on gun ownership and purchasing blamed black market transactions, Mexican drug cartels, and even the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for enabling criminals to access guns without licenses, and they argued that any additional oversight could put gun ownership out of reach for lawful citizens.

Opponents of microstamping legislation, which would require gun manufacturers to etch serial numbers into firearms and introduce technology in which fired bullets would be “microstamped’’ with a matching number, argued that it would be easily thwarted by criminals and would add to the cost of guns.

StateRepresentative Paul Adams, an Andover Republican, said “household tools’’ could be used to file down serial numbers on guns, and in many cases, gun crimes would not be solved by microstamping.

State Representative David Linsky, a Natick Democrat, the sponsor of microstamping legislation, countered that the measure is a “common-sense law enforcement assistance bill.’’

He argued it would add $7 per firearm in startup costs but would become less costly as companies adopted the technology.

Lawmakers also heard fierce opposition to a bill that would restrict gun purchases to 15 per year.

“This bill would shut down licensed gun dealers in the state of Massachusetts,’’ argued Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners’ Action League.

Nancy Robison, executive director of Citizens for Safety, countered that supporting restrictions on gun ownership is not tantamount to abridging Second Amendment rights.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/06/22/gun_control_measures_called_misguided_at_hearing/

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