After Setback in the Senate, Ban On Pre-1994 Assault Weapons Pushed Again
By Amy Lambiaso for the State House News Service
       Lawmakers are renewing their effort this year to ban the sale of all assault weapons in the state, a controversial move that was narrowly defeated in the Senate last year and is likely to face similar opposition this session.
       The state last year adopted a law tying certain definitions of assault weapons to federal definitions and extending a ban on the sale of assault weapons, such as AK-47s and UZIs, made after Sept. 13, 1994. Sen. Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge) and Rep. David Linsky (D-Natick) led the effort last year to ban the sale of all assault weapons, arguing that guns are equally dangerous regardless of the year they were made.
       But opposition to the bill, who argued it would primarily punish law-abiding gun owners, won out last year and gun owners who legally purchased their weapons before the 1994 deadline may continue to sell, rent or transfer the weapons in Massachusetts.
       Linsky and Barrios are again sponsoring separate legislation to extend the ban the pre-1994 weapons, and the Legislature’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee heard their bill today.