(The Center Square) – Defending and upholding Massachusetts’ common-sense gun laws were the focus of briefs filed in a pair of ongoing legal cases.
Coming on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling on New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, Massachusetts’ top law enforcement official Andrea Joy Campbell has taken action in court to protect laws intended to keep residents from experiencing gun violence.
Campbell, according to a release, filed the briefs in lawsuits pertaining to handgun safety regulations and a case taking opposition to a motion to block the state’s assault weapon and large-capacity magazines ban.
“Under my leadership, Massachusetts will continue to lead when it comes to preventing gun violence and that means defending our common sense gun laws that keep families safe,” Campbell said in a statement. “Today, we are calling on the courts to uphold laws that protect all of us, especially our children, from the deadly use of combat-style assault weapons, weapons with large-capacity magazines and weapons that do not meet minimum safety requirements.”
Campbell, on Monday, issued a brief in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the Granata v. Campbell case. The attorney general’s documents argue the state’s handgun safety regulations do not violate the Second Amendment.
Those regulations, according to the release, mandate the commercial sale of handgun models not meeting minimum safety requirements for explosion and discharge are banned. The brief says the regulations protect consumers, gun owners, and children against accidents.
In the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, on Tuesday, Campbell’s brief was filed in the National Association for Gun Rights v. Campbell. The case centers on the gun group’s push to block the state’s ban on selling and possessing assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.
In the brief, according to the release, the attorney general said combat-style assault rights and large-capacity magazines are the weapon of choice in the country’s deadliest mass shootings, and pose a risk to public safety and law enforcement officers.
