Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey’s contempt for gun owners and Second Amendment supporters has been on full display over the past few weeks as she scuttled the grassroots effort aimed at suspending the state’s newest gun control laws. When she belatedly signed an emergency preamble to Chapter 135 that put it into immediate effect, Healey said it the move was about “ensuring that we’re ready to go in terms of implementation”. That lie was readily apparent when shortly after Healey put pen to paper, the Massachusetts State Police notified gun store owners like Toby Leary that it was delaying implementation of a section of the law that would have curtailed the sale of rifles and shotguns until the state’s firearm roster could be updated.
So it was a surprise to Leary when he got another letter on Wednesday; this one from Gov. Healey herself commending Leary for his “dedication to ensuring the rights and liberties of Massachusetts citizens are always preserved.” Leary’s the head of The Civil Rights Coalition, a grassroots group formed to undo Chapter 135 via a referendum. The real reason Healey signed that emergency preamble was to block the coalition from suspending the law by turning in nearly 50,000 signatures to put a repeal on the ballot, so Leary said he was surprised to see the governor praising his effort.
“I mean, you should have seen my face when I got it,” he said. “The irony of it is she’s acknowledging that I’m doing tireless work to preserve the rights of the people, which is literally the opposite of what she is doing, the Legislature is doing.”
After the citation was revealed by Leary, the governor was asked why her office issued it, and her excuse was almost as lame as her justification for the emergency preamble.
At an unrelated event Wednesday afternoon, Healey said a person requested the citation, her constituent services office fulfilled the order, and a staff member in the constituent services office drafted the language.
“We’re in office for everyone. When constituent services receives a request, we honor those,” she told reporters while walking to her State House office. “I’m governor for everybody. I respect people’s opinions and views. I respect the Second Amendment, and I am somebody who as governor believes deeply in freedom and protecting freedoms and liberties.”
A spokesperson for the governor did not immediately tell the Herald who requested the citation for Leary.
Healey, who said she does not own a firearm nor possess a license to carry but has shot a weapon, last week beat back an attempt by Leary and his supporters to suspend the wide-ranging gun law by declaring the measure an emergency statute.
If Healey really respected the opinions and views of gun owners, she wouldn’t have signed Chapter 135 into law back in July, and she certainly wouldn’t have attached an “emergency” preamble two months later in order to keep the law in place while the referendum process gets underway.
On a side note, it’s also bizarre that Healey claims to have “shot a weapon” even though she doesn’t own a gun. My guess is she was trying to give herself some sort of credibility when it comes to her feigned support for the Second Amendment, but it makes her sound utterly ridiculous.
Citation aside, Leary said the effort to overturn the law is serious because of what is at stake for owners of firearms and gun shops.
“Maybe she’s had some remorse for doing what she did, especially after seeing the amount of people we have who have signed (onto the repeal campaign),” Leary said.
I wish that were the case, but there’s no evidence that Healey has any remorse or second thoughts about criminalizing basic aspects of the right to keep and bear arms. She’s just trying to spin away the embarrassment caused by her and her clueless staff.
Kudos to whoever requested the citation for Leary. It was an epic bit of trolling, and it worked to perfection… unlike the gun law she’s put into immediate effect, only to have major portions suspended until further notice.
