Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

From the Second Amendment Foundation

A U.S. District Court in Massachusetts has granted a preliminary injunction against Gov. Charlie Baker’s emergency order shutting down gun shops in the state in a case brought by the Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition and Commonwealth Second Amendment, Inc.

The lawsuit was filed April 9 and the case is known as McCarthy v. Baker. In reaction to the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Baker issued an emergency order that, according to the federal complaint, eliminated “all lawful channels of access to constitutionally protected arms and ammunition by mandating the closure of all businesses that sell firearms and ammunition to the consumer public. These actions amount to a ban on obtaining modern arms for personal defense in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”

“We are delighted at the decision by U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock and the swiftness with which it was reached,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Constitutional rights are never put on hold because of an emergency, including the outbreak of a virus. Too many elected officials think otherwise, and we’re having to deal with them one lawsuit a time, same as we’re taking on Governor Baker.”

Speaking from the bench during the virtual hearing, Judge Woodlock said, “There’s no justification here” for mandating the closure of gun shops. He specified that gun shops will be free to open at Noon Saturday, May 9.

“When Governor Baker lumped gun shops in with thousands of other businesses deemed ‘non-essential,’ he obviously didn’t consider the exercise of a fundamental right to be essential,” Gottlieb observed. “We can think of nothing that is more essential than exercising a right protected by the Constitution, especially during a declared state of emergency.

“Gun shops in other states have remained open,” Gottlieb added, “and those stores have come up with creative strategies to serve the public without endangering anyone. We’re confident Massachusetts retailers will be equally ingenious in their compliance with social distancing and sanitation requirements. We will continue pressing these cases wherever they’ve shown up because we’re not just talking about business here, we’re talking about rights.”

 

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.

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27 COMMENTS

    • Nice for Mass. What about gun stores in NY, also forced to close? Or does Emperor Cuomo’s fawning media coverage mean he can just ignore the bill of rights? (Trick question: the answer has been “yes” for years).

      • well if I had my way he would not be ignoring it for long…. not with a lit stick of ……… up his ass

  3. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock is a Reagan appointee now on senior status. He’s also a Yale Bonesman.

    MA will probably appeal to the leftist-dominated First Circuit, which is likely to grant a stay of Woodlock’s ruling. By the time the case gets heard by the First, the prohibition will have been lifted by Baker as part of a general release and gun stores will have been allowed to reopen with some distance, mask and sanitary restrictions.

  4. Next thing you know, the permitting process will suddenly find itself “overwhelmed” and “unable to process requests in a timely fashion.” Just like it is here in California where the 10 day background check is now running two weeks or more. I call that “slow walking.” It is hard to prove that they are doing it intentionally, but the outcome is the same, a denial of a right to self-defense.

    • “Next thing you know, the permitting process will suddenly find itself “overwhelmed” and “unable to process requests in a timely fashion.”

      That happened here in Florida, the Democrat agriculture commissioner in charge of issuing permits has stopped accepting, processing, and issuing concealed carry permits :

      “Anyone looking to get a new concealed weapons license in the State of Florida will have to wait a while because of the coronavirus outbreak.

      Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried says now that Governor Ron DeSantis is recommending the temporary closure of state offices, the staff will not be available to fingerprint people applying for a license. Most law enforcement agencies and tax collector offices across the state are also suspending fingerprinting services.”

      https://www.wokv.com/news/local/new-concealed-carry-license-applications-hold-florida-due-coronavirus-outbreak/Mv3laFf1qoQStp1WtCVwcP/

  5. Why is it that Dems are never heard saying they want to increase protections for our constitutionally-outlined natural rights? Why is it that limitations and restrictions happen when they become involved? Why do the brain-dead continue voting for people who only want to box them in tighter and tighter?

    Bread and circuses…

    • Chrlie Faker is a Republicrat,New England is famous for it’s RINO’s just as Gov. Benedict Scott of Vermont (R)INO

  7. Charlie Faker takes it in the shorts as he and anyone with half a clue knew he would, then why violate the citizens rights and waste their money in fighting the Constitution.BTW I know the answer,sarca.

    • “Judge Woodlock indicated his order would not apply to shooting ranges because the record of evidence in the case was insufficient to rule on those business’s claims.”

      It would appear the judge isn’t able to see that the purchase and use of deserve the same protections under the @ nd. amendment.

    • From an e-mail just received from GOAL:

      The Judge did briefly discuss the range closure issue. He determined he was not familiar enough with range operations to make a speedy decision. At that point he separated the two issues and invited the parties to make additional filings if they wanted to pursue the range matter.

  11. From behind enemy lines here in MA, I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. I forgot about Judge Woodlock. He must be one of very few left here.
    It wasn’t “Tall Deval” Baker’s idea to close gun stores and ranges. It was the RABID gun-hating dike AG in his ear. Baker is a complete sackless RINO that does whatever he’s told by the DemoRATs in high places. That’s so the legislature can claim their taxpayer fleecing schemes are “bipartisan”. It was all Maura Healy no doubt about it. We’re hoping SCOTUS chooses to hear our case against her overreach.
    As one other poster said, she’ll force an immediate appeal and the awful First Ckt will stay the order. For us here, though, any 2A victory is great.

    • I feel your pain, my brother. I’ve been here in Massivetwoshits since 2010. You’ve been here since Hector was a pup.

  12. Hold on, that’s not a done deal. It’s a “preliminary injunction”, right? So there is more to be heard and decided?

    It’s a good step, now let’s see how it finishes.

    • Sure, but unlike Texas, we can protest without having law enforcement showing up in armored cars pointing AR-15s at people and arresting them.

  14. Inside the minds of anti-gun zealots are visions of themselves in total control ordering jack booted thugs to storm the homes of gun owners and confiscate their guns. Once disarmed the gun trash will be place on trains destined for concentration camps. Able body gun trash will work in labor camps, the old will be gassed and shoved into mass graves.

    The above and much. much, worse actually happened to Jews. The first step? Gun Control. It’s a racist and nazi based agenda.

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