XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: uy@libscum.com   
      
   (Reuters) - Massachusetts lawmakers on Friday tightened the   
   state's already strict gun laws by passing a measure that gives   
   police chiefs authority to turn down a resident's requests to   
   buy a rifle or shotgun if they believe the person may be a   
   danger.   
      
   House lawmakers overrode objections from gun-rights advocates in   
   the state Senate who had opposed the measure, worrying that   
   police chiefs could abuse the authority to deny firearms to law-   
   abiding citizens.   
      
   "We seek not to be the safest state in the nation but strive to   
   make our communities the safest in the world," said House   
   Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Democrat.   
      
   The bill now goes to Governor Deval Patrick, a fellow Democrat,   
   who supports tightening the state's gun laws.   
      
   The measure broadens the authority of police, who were already   
   allowed to deny sales of handguns to people who failed   
   background checks. The new measure gives a police chief 90 days   
   to petition a court to deny a firearms identification card to   
   someone the chief believes to be unfit.   
      
   "This is an egregious violation of your Second Amendment   
   rights," gun-rights lobbying group the National Rifle   
   Association said in a statement released shortly before the   
   bill's passage during a legislative session that went past   
   midnight.   
      
   The group said it objected mainly to the firearms ID card   
   provision, saying the bill "does contain some favorable   
   provisions to gun owners."   
      
   The measure would allow people with restrictions on their gun   
   licenses to seek judicial review and also declassifies self-   
   defense spray as ammunition.   
      
   http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/01/us-usa-guncontrol-   
   massachusetts-idUSKBN0G14HD20140801   
      
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)