Gun supporters protest new weapons restrictions; vow to fight jackbooted liberal tyrant officials

Healy is certainly acting the tyrant, whether communist or fascist flavor is moot. She is stepping way beyond her purview in declaring the intent of a law post-facto; that is the job of the courts. The law that was passed was the one that was sold to the voters as being not so broad as to allow virtually any firearm to be banned arbitrarily, not the one that Healy seeks to write. It was not so long ago the attorney general was being excoriated on here for her harsh and pointless ruling against Nashoba Valley Winery. This is a dangerous trend.

A long rifle visible from a mile away more dangerous than an easily concealable handgun that you won't see until it's stuck right in your face, ready to blow your head off?

I went and shot two rounds of trap. Did better on Sporting Clays. Two at a time, those.

There were no Trumpist Gaffin-Looneys on the trap field. No Gadsen flags or self aggrandising openly Lesbian (! ! ! Like OMG!) AGs. Just people out enjoying a summer afternoon in their sport of choice, almost as if they had a basic right to it. That 2nd Amendment thingy.

I know how unlikely that sounds but go figure.

An AR15 is Not an Assault Rifle

To help educate all of those who think AR15 stands for and is an Assault Rifle, here are some basics.

• An Assault Rifle is a military rifle which is capable of automatic (machine gun like) fire. An AR-15 is a civilian rifle that can only fire one bullet for each pull of the trigger. It is no different in that respect from ANY other commonly used semi-automatic rifle or pistol ever made.

• AR-15 actually stands for "Armalite Rifle design 15”. It does not stand for Assault Rifle. It is a 1950’s modular design allowing certain components to be customized for different uses. The Armalite Company sold their designs to Colt in 1959, which provided a basis for designing the US Military’s M-16 Automatic Fire Assault Rifle.

• An AR-15 can be made to look cosmetically similar to a military “assault rifle”. That is why it is often confused with one. It does not provide any magic assault, automatic fire military capabilities. In fact, given its almost 60 year old design most civilian, single shot AR-15 rifles in use are light years behind the capabilities of current military firearm technology.

• What makes the AR design one of the most popular types of civilian rifles in the US and the world is its flexibility to suit a wide range of civilian sporting, hunting and home defense uses. Armalite Rifles can be configured for .22, 9mm, 5.56 or any of over a dozen common calibers; and for different styles of barrels, hand guards, triggers, and optics (scopes).

• Unfortunately because of its immense popularity Armalite style rifles will occasionally be misused by criminals to commit crimes. Those exceedingly rare events, despite the tens of millions of law abiding AR owners since the 1950’s, are what the certain media and politicians seize upon to make headlines and promote their anti-firearms agenda.

If Healey was anything like Hitler, all of those people would have been rounded up. Or put on a list and given a visit in the middle of the night. Hell, if Healey was anything remotely like Hitler, these people wouldn't have been out there to start with - despite how everybody likes to think of themselves as the action star hero, 99% of people keep their heads down and go along to get along in situations like Nazi Germany, if only for the sake of their loved ones.

These are not people afraid that protesting her in public is going to get them in trouble, let alone knowing that simply existing as an 'undesirable' is going to get you probably killed.

Whether you think her actions are right or wrong, the comparison displays either a stunning ignorance of history and context, or a breathtaking lack of empathy for Holocaust victims and their families.