Supreme Court ruling likely to impact who can carry a handgun in Massachusetts

BOSTON — The United States Supreme Court struck down a New York gun law by a vote of 6-3. That ruling will likely have an impact in Massachusetts.

Boston University Professor Michael Ulrich, an Assistant Professor of Health, Law, Ethics & Human Rights at Boston University feels the ruling did not take into account this country’s current gun dilemma.

“How do we create laws today that deal with modern gun violence issues,” said Professor Ulrich.

Currently, Massachusetts courts have ruled that if a person cannot show “good reason to fear injury” then police chiefs can restrict when someone can carry a firearm.

Professor Ulrich says that’s important.

“The problem with the idea of the law abiding citizen is that anyone can be a law abiding citizen until they pull the trigger,” he said.

But gun advocates say that’s likely to be challenged.

“Even though it’s a state license, a lot of localities have a lot of latitude whether you can even get the license,” said Jim Wallace who is Executive Director of Gun Owner’s Action League or GOAL.

He says the group are advocates for 2nd Amendment rights.

“If you’re a lawful citizen and you pass your background checks you should be able to exercise your civil rights,” said Wallace.

Just as the ruling came down Gov. Charlie Baker issued a statement saying commonwealth leads nation in gun laws and gun reform saying: “The Court’s ruling on New York’s licensing law has no immediate effect on the Commonwealth’s gun laws, which all remain in place,” said Gov. Baker.

We also spoke to the Lawrence Police Chief, Roy Vasque, who is also he’s currently the Vice President of the Major City Chiefs in the state. He’s concerned about the ruling saying, "

“In a country flooded with firearms and gun violence it’s concerning that we may lose our ability to review access to firearms.

It’s certainly one of the reasons Massachusetts has one of the lowest gun violence rates in the country.”

Additional coverage:

[ Supreme Court decides ‘proper cause’ needed for concealed carry license is unconstitutional ]

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