Massachusetts lawmakers reach compromise deal on gun bill

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts House and Senate negotiators have released a compromise version of a sweeping gun bill that supporters say builds on the state’s existing gun laws, including a crackdown on difficult to trace “ghost guns,” while safeguarding the rights of gun owners.

The bill — which must be given final approval by both chambers before being sent to Gov. Maura Healey for her signature — is part of an effort by the state to respond to a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that citizens have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.

On ghost guns, the bill would toughen oversight for those who own privately made, unserialized firearms that are largely untraceable. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice reported recovering 25,785 ghost guns in domestic seizures.

The bill would expand the state’s extreme risk protective order law — also known as the red flag law — by authorizing health care professionals and others who interact regularly with individuals in crisis to petition a court to suspend the individual’s right to possess or carry a gun to protect them and others.

The bill would also prohibit the possession of firearms by non-law enforcement individuals at schools, polling locations and government buildings and impose strict penalties for the possession of modification devices such as Glock switches that supporters of the law say convert an otherwise legal firearm into a fully automatic firearm.

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