YES . . . and NO! Who amongst us is to sit in judgement?
Would counseling in High School for inappropriate behavior cause
the rejection of a applicant for gun permit at age 30?
Would it discourage an individual seeking mental health care or family counseling?

"...giving police the authority to arrest without a warrant..." This is scary right here.

No Criminals will ignore them and still be armed. Law biding citizens will have to jump through loops and dance just to get permission. So the end result will be that criminals will have an easier time obtaining a gun then the law biding citizens. Does that seem right to you?

I am a gun owner and believe that the 2nd amendment is there so that I can be armed, both to protect myself from criminals and my own government. I am afraid of encroachment upon it. That said, my understanding is that, under current law, I can take one of my handguns right down to Center Street and sell it to the first person I encounter for $1. No questions asked, no knowledge of the person required because it is a private sale. Am I wrong about that? If that is correct, than I am in favor of fixing that aspect of our gun laws. As to an assault weapons ban...that won't change anything. Let's not forget that almost everyone who is killed by a gun (who does not kill themselves) is a young black or brown man killed by a handgun. Why don't we have the will and energy to tackle that?

The Second Amendment has its roots in the slave South. James Madison, from the slave state of Virginia, wrote the 2nd Amendment to assure the slave states that their slave patrols would not be disarmed by the Congress. Those slave patrols became the state militias which later formed the core of the traitor army which fought against Lincoln in an effort to destroy our government. After defeat they became armed lynch mobs, the KKK and the CCC. They are still with us clutching their guns and Bibles.

I'm in favor of most of the proposals except for reducing the maximum number of rounds a gun can hold from 10 to 7. I see little benefit in doing so, but more than anything, it will result in fewer models of guns being available to law-abiding citizens in MA. As it is, there are many more models of handguns available in other states because manufacturers have chosen to not manufacture versions that only hold 10 or fewer rounds. Reducing this limit to 7 will only make this worse.

No! It is unconstitutional! Everyone of these new laws will effect ONLY law abiding citizens who are not the problem. Everyone of these mass shootings was committed by a mentally ill person on mess for said problems. All except one and he was off his meds. The weapons in question are not assault weapons, and they are used all the time for hunting. The only difference is when they hunt they use a 5 round magazine. The large magazines are used for protection and sporting. The looks of a weapon does not make it an assault weapon. Furthermore the 223/5.56 round commonly used in these weapons is indeed a very useful caliber. Police and sway teams around the country are going from the 9 mm round to the 223/5.56 because it is less likely to travel thrpough the intended target hitting an innocent. That is just one of the reason this weapon system is a favorite for home defense. As for limiting the size of the magazine one only has to do a quick search and see how handgun caliber rounds are fairly ineffective at quickly stopping a would be attacker. Sure there are plenty of one shot stops but many times attackers are on drugs and are shot multiple times and do not drop. Just last week a young mother shot an intruder 5 times out of six including a head shot and the attacker left and drive himself to the hospital. Enough is enough, concentrate on the criminals and leave the honest law abiding alone!

What specifically is a "High powered round of ammunition?" A 1853 Enfield Black powder rifle with a .577 Minie Ball and 70 grains of Black Powder is a pretty hefty load. Thats about what they used in 1863..........

In the 1790's, James Madison, George Mason, Patrick Henry and other slave-owning Virginians, discussed the proposed Second Amendment. They worried that the North, where slavery was nearly eradicated, would someday act against slavery by taking action against their slave patrols/militia, or even by arming slaves through enlistment. Good thinking on their part because Lincoln eventually did something similar. The 2nd Amendment was all about armed men protecting a slave system by force of arms.

It is not the availability of guns; it is the despair that comes from an overly regulated increasingly confined society. As our rights and our freedoms are taken by government, and self serving politicians, so increases the fear, the isolation, and so disappears the faith, creativity, and compassion for others.

Why is the restriction on magazines not listed in this article? I have many 10rd magazines that I will have to destroy if this is passed. Will criminals be handing in their magazines also? If this passes I'll be forced to buy 7rd magazines. Will I have to destroy those in a few years for to buy 5rd magazines? or 3? I have many friends who collect WWII rifles that only accept 8 round magazines. It would be a shame to have those rendered useless because of a knee jerk reaction.

DAVE...AS LONG AS DEVAL AND HIS GOVERNMENT CRONIES HAVE 24 HR. ARMED PROTECTION, I EXPECT THE SAME. I ACCEPT THAT I MUST ALWAYS BE THE 1ST. RESPONDER FOR THE PROTECTION OF MYSELF AND MY FAMILY. HIS LIFE IS NO MORE VALUABLE THAN MINE.....CREATED EQUALLY. THE ONLY WAY TO STOP AN ARMED THREAT FROM A BAD GUY(S), IS WITH A GUN IN THE HAND OF A GOOD GUY...THIS PILOSOPHY IS PRESCRIBED TO BY THE ACTIONS OF OUR POLICE AND OUR MILITARY..

A 6 or 7 year old's right to life trumps the 2nd amendment any day.

Dave Hermes

Fools like yourself always use the emotional argument and point to the children when you want to strip citizens of their rights.

You argument could be used to justify ANY action by the government.

The extreme hard core of the gun advocates in the South are mainly descended from the defeated traitorous Confederate army who later formed armed lynch mobs and the KKK. Many gun advocates in the North really hate President Obama who obtained 82% of the last vote in my district.

Dave Hermes is a fool. All these laws do is make it more difficult for law abiding citizens to obtain legal weapons. As stated by several others.

Must be 21 to buy alcohol - underage drinking will never stop
Must be 18 to buy smokes - underage smoking will never stop
Drugs are illegal - Is that stopping anyone from buying drugs? No.
DUI Laws - How many repeat offenders?
Murder is illegal - Does that stop murders from happening?

What EVERYONE fails to remember about the horrific tragedy in CT is that this sick bastard murdered his own mother and stole her guns! He murdered someone that was a licensed gun owner to obtain weapons that weren't his. The laws in place prevented him from buying. No laws would have stopped him from killing.

The REAL issue (in this case) is mental health, not gun ownership and the ability to purchase weapons legally. Stop blaming the guns. Someone has to pull the trigger, they don't fire automatically. G'day.

Let's ban knives now too!!

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/01/17/woman-brutally-stabbed-inside-bed-bath-beyond-store-in-nj/#.UPjX3b2gA24.twitter

Even better, let's stop passengers from waiting on train platforms:

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Woman-Thrown-on-Subway-Tracks-During-Violent-Attack-187390991.html

Stories like these are a dime a dozen. Can be found daily on a variety of news websites. Huffington and Drudge just to name the most popular.

Seriously people, we can all agree what happened in CT was horrific, but passing laws based on emotions is the wrong response. This about recognizing mental health issues and having the balls to address them.

If the president cared about lives...he'd look to his own city of Chicago. Where 20 people are killed every weekend with illegal guns. Yet the gun control there is the toughest in the nation. Can't even carry a gun or get a permit. How can these people keep resisting the statistic that where there is the highest gun control there is the worst crime and murder rates. They can because the one thing on the agenda is to gut the second amendment.

These new regulations were put in place to stifle gun ownership. There will be no guns available with seven round mags. Therefore nothing gun dealers to sell but revolvers. This is the intention, a ban on all semi automatic firearms. The new regulations will make me, a law abiding citizen an outlaw because I own a ten round magazine. What a joke. Last time I checked I was a viable member of society who works, pays taxes, coaches young children, raises a family and acts to protect what this country is supposed to be about.

What did I do to become an outlaw? Kiss my A$$ Deval, I'm leaving this state for freedom of another state. You lost a good citizen and it's your fault and the fault of the people who continue to elect these libs.
Go ahead, keep pushing, men like me will follow suit......and the bleeding hearts can be left with the slubs....but they don't pay taxes, so you union guys can have good luck getting money from them.

Those of us who have friends and acquaintances in law enforcement who put their lives on the line protecting us do not want them facing these assault type weapons.

No, I do not agree with the proposed restrictions. I am a nine year Navy vet, my wife is in the National Guard, and we are law abiding citizens who want to be safe and protected.
Increase the penalties for committing a crime with a gun. Increase mental health care and secure our schools, but leave our Constitutionally guaranteed rights to have firearms alone.

I hope that should any President order or any Congress legislate the confiscation of firearms, that the military remembers that their oath they took is to "protect the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC".

They did not swear an oath to the President, or to an administration, or to a political party, they swore an oath to the Constitution. Therefore, in the issuance of any Unconstitutional orders, they are oath-sworn to disobey such orders.

An organization exists, called Oathkeepers, that encourages present and ex-military to remember their oath, and that it has no expiration date.

If push comes to shove, I pray that the military is on the side of the citizens.

And I forgot to thank Brian Zakrajsek and his wife for their service to our country. Thank you.