Gun Owners’ Action LeaguePO Box 567Northboro, MA. 01532Change Service Requested

“Gun Violence” Committee Report Comes Up Short

Report Disappoints

Continued on page 8

February 7, 2014

GOAL Response to Special Com-mittee Report on Gun Violence.

On Monday February 3, 2014 the long awaited gun violence report was released by the Committee to Reduce Firearms Violence. Ap-pointed by House Speaker DeLeo, the Committee, comprised mostly of academics spent 9 months speak-ing to individuals and groups before finally releasing their report.

GOAL feels that a tremendous op-portunity was missed by this report. Instead of recommending solutions to problems which go to the root of violent crime, we received a disap-pointing report full of suggestions and ideas which for the most part will only impose more harassment, restriction and punishment upon the law abiding citizens of the Com-monwealth.

Clearly the move towards more re-striction and prohibition is a move in the wrong direction. Over the

GOAL Responds with Real Solutions - Urges Revisit of GOAL Legislation.

past two plus decades, the major-ity of our country has lessened re-strictions and prohibitions upon firearms ownership by law abiding citizens. During this same time pe-riod the nation as a whole has en-joyed a considerable decline in gun violence and violent crime.

Here in Massachusetts we are going in the opposite direction, our laws passed 15 years ago are amongst the nation’s most restrictive and pro-hibitive yet gun violence increases by the decade. We hope that our legislature recognizes this and is ready to move forward towards real solutions instead of building upon failure.

GOAL looks forward to working with our legislature on crafting a bill which would restore and respect our Second Amendment freedom while addressing the real human criminal element.

In this way we will see a true reduc-tion in violent crime and a rebirth of freedom in the Commonwealth.

GOAL’s Review of the Report from the Com-mittee to Reduce Fire-arm Violence“Strategies for Reducing Gun Vio-lence in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts”

February 6, 2014

Acknowledgements:

Gun Owners’ Action League (GOAL) would like to thank the Speaker of the House for taking a well thought out, deliberate process towards reviewing the gun laws. The tragic murders that took place in Newtown over a year ago caused great pain throughout our nation. No person can bear witness to the aftermath of such atrocities with-out being affected. It is unfortunate that in that state of great emotional pain some politicians chose to act

in haste. These acts left some states with very poorly thought out leg-islation and eventually laws that are now being challenged in court from all sides. Thankfully, through the leadership of the Massachusetts Speaker of the House a more delib-erate path was chosen.

Overview:

In the spring of 2013, House Speak-er DeLeo appointed a non-legisla-tive body to review the Massachu-setts gun laws to find areas that they could be improved. The body was named the Committee to Reduce Gun Violence (“Committee”). With the announcement of this commit-tee and its mission, the members of GOAL were very hopeful that this independent panel of profession-als and academics would conduct a reasoned review of the state’s gun laws. After a decade and a half of liv-ing under the most convoluted and

GOAL Vice President Steve Moysey discusses the issues with Committee Chair Jack McDevitt at a speaking engagement last spring.

“Night of Crime with Howie Carr” a Special Night for GOAL!

From Howie’s website: The 2014 edition of the Night of Crime will focus on the incredible trial of Whit-ey Bulger in Boston last summer. In his usual raconteur style, Howie will include inside stories about the tes-timony, and what the TV cameras didn’t record, because they weren’t allowed inside the courtroom. He will show photos of Bulger’s victims, before and after, some of which may be a bit R-rated for younger chil-dren. Howie will explain the myste-rious murder of Stippo Rakes, and what’s next for Whitey. As much as you read in “Ratman,” there’s more, and Howie will tell you all about it.

Information: GOAL Presents a Night with Howie Carr - GOAL Fundraiser!

Location: Holiday Inn 265 Lakeside Avenue - Marlboro, MA 01752.

Date: Saturday, March 22, 2014 - Doors open at 5:00 pm - Speaking starts at 6:30 pm.

Admission: $45.00 - includes light fare - cash bar will be available Spe-cial door prize raffle for event par-ticipants only! (firearm)

Registration: Please contact Angela Fisher at GOAL 508-393-5333 x20 or visit http://goal.org/howie-carr.html. We look forward to seeing you!

Author and radio personality Howie Carr will be doing a special presentation of his “Night of Crime” as a GOAL fundraising event, join us!

GOAL Newse PrintEdition

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GOAL News Print Edition February 20142

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February 2014 GOAL News Print Edition 3

In This Issue:From the Executive Director - Jim Wallace Page 4From the Editor - Mike Sweeney Page 5Bettina’s Take Page 6Patriot Games Page 7GOAL Training Schedule Page 16Join GOAL - Information/Form Page 17Competition & Events Schedule Page 19Worcester Pistol & Rifle Club News Page 20Reloading Bench - Jim Finnerty Page 22

• GOAL News

GOAL News Print Edition

GOAL News - Print Edition is the Official Journal of Gun Owners’ Action League. GOAL is the official state association of the National Rifle Asso-ciation.

GOAL is dedicated to education, safety, training and support of Massachusetts Firearms Owners.

Since 1975, GOAL has represented the interests of the law abiding citizens of Massacusetts.

Gun Owners’ Action League Officials

GOAL Board of DirectorsPresident: Jay Beard

1st Vice President: Steve Moysey2nd Vice President: Pete McBride

Treasurer: Robert PepiSecretary: Ellie Horwitz

Executive Director: Jim Wallace

Gun Owners’ Action League - GOAL News “Print Edition” is published monthly and provided as a membership benefit to all classes of member-ship who wish to receive it.

Submissions of original works are welcomed. However the editor reserves the right to reject or appropriately edit any submitted material.

Reprint permission is granted provided that appropriate credit is given in the form of the statement: “Reprinted from GOAL News Print Edition”.

Advertisers should contact Mike Sweeney at 508-393-5333 x25 or mike@goal.org for rates and information.

GOAL News - Print EditionChief Executive Officer: James Wallace

Editor: Michael SweeneyContributing Editors:

Angela Fisher, Jon Green, Steve Moysey, Jay Beard, Bettina Romberg

Gun Owners’ Action LeaguePO Box 567/361 W. Main St.

Northboro, MA. 01532Phone: 508-393-5333 Fax: 508-393-5222

http://www.goal.orgGeneral e-mail staff@goal.orgChief of Staff: angela@goal.org

News/Communications/Web e-mail: mike@goal.orgTraining/Education e-mail: jongreen@goal.org

Membership/Club e-mail: tara@goal.orgGun Owners’ Action League is the official Massachusetts state association

of the National Rifle Association.

Join GOAL Protecting Your Freedom Begins Here!Gun Owners’ Action League is the official state firearms association in Massachusetts. We are an association of law-abiding citizens who believe in the basic right of firearms ownership for competition, recreation and self-protection.

GOAL works hard to defend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights against those in Massachusetts who wish to infringe upon the freedoms guaran-teed by our forefathers. The programs sponsored and developed by Gun Owners’ Action League are supported by competitors, sportsmen, recre-ational shooters and law enforcement throughout the state.

We were formed in 1974 to protect the right to keep and bear arms for law-ful purposes in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We are recognized as the state’s premier gun rights association.

Why You Should Join GOAL

Every intrusion on our gun rights is an intrusion on all rights. The Con-stitutional rights and freedoms that you enjoy - and may take for granted - are becoming more fragile each day. Secure your rights for yourself, your family and future generations. Join GOAL and become part of the solution today.

Gun Owners’ Action League is a grassroots organization whose members actively participate in the many facets of protecting our Second Amend-ment rights and passing on the shooting sports traditions.

No one has any reason to fear the possession of firearms by law-abiding citizens. GOAL publishes materials to bring the truth about gun owner-ship to the public, the legislature and our members.

We also provide courses to new shooters, as well as certification training for those wishing to become firearms instructors. We also provide referrals to instructors around the state.

Join online, at http://goal.org/joingoal.html

Term up in 2014 Term up in 2015 Term up in 2016

Bruce Hall Rickard Sitte Mark Jester

Michael Concannon Bettina Romberg Ron Amidon

Joe Currie Jim Finnerty Mike Anthony

Gary Wilk Ernest W. Foster Vacant Seat

Follow Us Online!

GOAL B.O.D. 2014 Meeting ScheduleMarch 13, April 17, May 15, June 12, July 16, August 14, September 11, October 16, November 13, December10.

Board of Directors Meetings are open to all GOAL Members in good standing and are at GOAL HQ, 361 W. Main St. Northboro, MA. 01532

GOAL turns 40 this year! We will have much more about this in next month’s issue of GOAL News Print Edition - Stay Tuned!

GOAL News Print Edition February 20144

From the Executive DirectorNews and Notes by Jim Wallace

Recent Flood of Legislators LeaveIn what seems to have been a grow-ing trend over the last few years, more legislators have recently an-nounced that they will be resigning their seats or will not be seeking re-election. Sadly, two of these legisla-

Whether it was the Second Amend-ment, budget matters or open space, Senator Brewer and Rep. Peterson were a true bipartisan team that reached across the aisle to get things done. They will both be sorely missed by all.

Just a few days prior to this article being written Senate President

Representative Christine Canavan of Brockton, another A+ GOAL rated legislator has just announced that she will not seek re-election. Rep. Canavan has been leading the charge to pass legislation creating very tough penalties for criminals stealing from firearm retailers. She has said to be leaving the legislature to enter the Methodist ministry.

Representative Kathi-Anne Rein-stein of Revere, Second Assistant Majority Leader, is leaving her seat to take the government affairs posi-tion at Sam Adams brewer Boston Beer. Not a bad gig to go to.

Representative Steven Walsh of Lynn has held his seat since 2002 and has announced he will be re-signing to become the executive di-rector of the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals. He is slat-ed to take on the new role in March.

Of course there is Representative Carlos Henriquez who has recently been convicted of criminal activi-ties that has landed him in jail. The House ethics committee has begun proceedings that will likely end in the Rep. being ousted from his seat.

The outflow of legislators in the past few years has certainly not been the norm of the past. We’ll have to see what changes this will bring to the building. It is also very curious as what precisely has lured so many legislators to leave what was nor-mally a lifetime position once they acquired it. One thing for certain, all of these departures will certainly make for a spirited election season this fall.

DCR UpdateFor several months GOAL has been working with our members to ad-dress concerns with newly proposed regulations from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), 302 CMR 12.00. The new regulations were a result of merging the old MDC regs with the Forest and Parks regs. These two entities were merged under the Romney ad-ministration.

When the draft regulations were re-leased, GOAL expressed deep con-cerns over some of the language concerning the mere possession of firearms as well as hunting issues. We urged our members to attend the hearings that were being held across the state to voice their concerns. As a result of our members doing so, GOAL has been able to work with DCR and the Department of Fish and Game to address our concerns. Currently DCR is in the process of redrafting the proposed regulations taking into consideration our con-cerns as well as those from other user groups. From what we have seen so far, we are pleased with the progress and will keep our members updated when the redraft is ready for public release. Thanks to all who took part in this effort.

Senator Brewer has been supported GOAL’s efforts to protect freedom for nearly 3 decades

Representative Peterson speaking at GOAL’s 2011 Freedom Rising Banquet.

tors are great friends of gun owners and sportsmen/women.

Senator Stephen Brewer has served in the legislature for nearly three decades and in that time has dis-tinguished himself as a first class statesman. He has held his position with dignity and always sought to educate the people he worked with on a daily basis. I can remember well when in 2003 the senate was debating to restore the Inland Fish and Game Fund, the senator rose and pointed to the balcony and said to the Senate President, (paraphras-ing) [Mr. President I believe I can end this debate now by pointing out one thing. If you look to the balco-ny you will see two gentlemen one representing GOAL and one rep-resenting Mass. Audubon. The two of them are working side-by-side on this issue. If you understand the spectrum of people the two com-bined represent, I suggest we get this done.]

Representative George Peterson has also announced that he will be re-tiring after this session. The Rep. has served for two decades in the Massachusetts House of Represen-tatives. In that time he has earned the respect of his colleagues and has established himself as a leader in the building that others look to for advice. Since he has been serv-ing in the legislature, the Rep. has been a steadfast supporter of Sec-ond Amendment and sportsmen’s issues. Countless times over the years the Rep. has had to fight hard during the House budget process to assure that the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife had proper funding.

Therese Murray announced she will not seek re-election this coming fall. This move was not unexpected as the senate has term limits for be-ing its President. Senator Murray distinguished herself by becoming the first Woman Senate President in Massachusetts. The Senator has been in the legislature for over two decades and has not indicated what she might do upon leaving office. It is predicted that Senator Stan Rosenberg has the support to be-come the next Senate President.

As most people following politics

already know, Representative Mar-ty Walsh has left already and suc-ceeded in becoming the new mayor of Boston. Following him into City Hall has been the longtime House Chairman of the Joint Committee Judiciary Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty. O’Flaherty has been hired by Mayor Walsh to run the legal office in City Hall. Apparently this is quite a job as there are around sixty employees in that department.

LYNCH SCRIMO AttorneysYOUR CASE IS OUR CAUSE

Veterans Discount

February 2014 GOAL News Print Edition 5

From The EditorHave we elected a government that doesn’t trust us?

February 2014

For decades now we have elected a government that doesn’t trust us.

It’s a given that the bureaucratic bulk of MA government is all about controlling us through numerous laws, and CMR’s (Commonwealth of Massachusetts Regulation), what many people don’t realize or think about is that they don’t trust you to make sound decisions or to take personal responsibility for your own life, liberty and pursuit of hap-piness.

Want some evidence?

When you live in a state where mov-ie dialogue consists of two guys jok-ing back and forth that “everything is illegal in Massachusetts” you might take notice.

When your top cop, Attorney Gen-eral Martha Coakley goes on record by saying “we (Massachusetts) don’t believe in self help” you might take notice.

When your legislative body refuses for over two years to decriminalize the possession of what is essentially

spice juice in an aerosol can, also known as pepper spray you might take notice.

This is nothing new; our neighbors to the north, New Hampshire and Vermont were populated early on by people that didn’t want to live under the thumb of Massachusetts politicians. The lack of trust and need for control runs deep here.

Did I mention that Massachusetts is the only state in the country that requires a permit from the govern-ment in the form of an FID card to legally purchase and possess pepper spray? In other words, “we don’t trust you to protect yourself, leave that up to us.”

For the past week or more the lo-cal evening news has featured many stories of women being attacked in different parts of Boston, many of the areas where this is happening are not exactly known as high crime areas.

This tells me that criminals are be-coming more emboldened. Why shouldn’t they be? They know that the odds of one of their victims be-

ing able to fight back with anything other than their hands, feet and fists are slim to none. What’s unusual is that these crimes are becoming prevalent during the cold weather months; it’s scary to think what will happen when the weather warms up.

As you may recall this was also a problem this past fall. With a spate of sexual assaults occurring all over the city they had to do something, sadly that something was the Bos-ton Police Dept. releasing a “be alert” announcement for women in Boston, one of the things that they recommended?

Carrying pepper spray.

You really can’t make it up, the po-lice admit a problem and in effect say “hey we can’t help you” so they recommend carrying something for self defense that for many is nearly unattainable, simply because the MA legislature does not trust us.

How else can you explain it?

And what exactly ARE they scared of?

Are they scared that the criminals might not accomplish what they set out to do? I doubt that. Are they scared that the second American Revolution is going to be started by hordes of pepper spray wielding co-eds? Highly doubtful.

I’ll tell you what they’re scared of; they’re scared of admitting that they can’t legislate criminals into being law abiding citizens. Sadly, they’re doing a heck of a job with the oppo-site, legislating law abiding citizens into criminals, but that’s a column

for another day.

So, what do we get? We get rules, regulations, restrictions and prohi-bitions, passed under the guise of “keeping us safe”. The end result of many of them, including pepper spray legislation is that it does any-thing but and actually has the op-posite effect resulting in increased violent crime.

This causes a ripple effect in many ways. The increased crime rates, notices from Boston police and news stories are starting to be no-ticed by kids and parents research-ing where they want to attend col-lege. It’s also causing a significant exodus of taxpaying citizens to the north. History is literally repeating itself as many people, tired of hav-ing their freedom legislated away piece by piece are saying “enough” and moving to Vermont or New Hampshire.

The legislative bodies of our neigh-bors to the north get it. They real-ize that trusting the citizens to make the best choice for themselves is the best course of action for the indi-vidual citizen and in the name of public safety. Did I mention that statistically both VT and NH are much safer places to live?

I hope that the voters of the com-monwealth figure this out before it’s too late. It’s time to restore individ-ual freedom to the residents of Mas-sachusetts; decriminalizing pepper spray will make a great first step.

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“Massachusetts is the only state in the country that requires a permit to legally purchase and possess pepper spray”

GOAL News Print Edition February 20146

GOAL News - Print EditionBettina’s Take: Does Massachusetts Have A Second Amendment?

Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Dec-laration of Independence that we are endowed with certain unalien-able Rights and that among them are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

These rights are natural, meaning they come from our nature as hu-man beings; and unalienable, mean-ing they cannot be taken away by anyone. These rights are so impor-tant that we fought the whole Brit-ish Empire to defend them, because rights exist prior to government. The sole purpose of government is to preserve and protect the rights of the individual.

There is a reason why our first right is the right to our own life, because without this right, no other rights are possible. To have the right to your life means you have the right to choose the direction of your life. You own your life. If you own your life, you have the right to the means to secure and protect it.

The Second Amendment is merely an affirmation of your unalienable right to your own life. It is simply one aspect of your right to your life. The Second Amendment pre-supposes that your right to own and bear arms exists. It does not establish this right. It only states that this right of the people shall not be infringed. In other words, if the Second Amendment had not been written explicitly in the Bill of Rights, we would still have the right to defend our lives with whatever means possible. The only reason it was written and included in the Bill of Rights was to prohibit the gov-ernment from attempting any in-fringements on your rights.

Since I have become involved in activism on behalf of the Second Amendment, I have heard many times from people on either side of the issue that Massachusetts does not have a Second Amendment.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Apart from Article 17, which states “the people have a right to keep and to bear arms for the common defence,” there are two other areas in the Constitution that protect and uphold your right to defend your life. The men at the Constitutional Convention clearly covered the sub-ject.

In two other sections, the Massa-chusetts Constitution refers to un-alienable rights, natural rights or the right to life. First, take the first sentence of the Preamble, where natural rights are mentioned ex-plicitly:

“The end of the institution, main-tenance, and administration of gov-ernment, is to secure the existence of the body politic, to protect it, and to furnish the individuals who com-pose it with the power of enjoying in safety and tranquility their natu-ral rights, and the blessings of life...”

Second, in Part the First, Article I, which has been slightly amended and is now Article CVI, but never-theless remains intact:

“All people are born free and equal and have certain natural, essen-tial and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, pos-sessing and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness…”

Unalienable rights describe the self-evident endowment that each indi-vidual possesses: The right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happi-ness.

One cannot talk about the defense of life, unalienable rights or natural rights without the right to defend your life against someone trying to take it from you or rob you of your freedom of action. All these rights

are interconnected. Just think about the consequences if this were not the case: Life without Liberty, that is, Life without the freedom to act and ultimately, Life’s purpose, the pursuit of Happiness. One cannot live without rights.

In order to form a more perfect Union based on the principle of in-dividual rights and to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. This is the structure of the United States and the sole pur-pose of its government vested with just powers derived solely from the consent of the governed. There is no ambiguity here. A State Consti-tution may re-state those principles, but it cannot undermine the United States and its underlying principles expressed in the U.S. Constitution.

If that were the case, we would not have a republic built on laws, but anarchy. If it were true that a state could hollow out the Constitution of the United States, slavery and other transgressions against man’s rights could easily be re-instituted by any state at its whim by simple majority vote.

We may be living in a Common-wealth where her government has strayed far from the principle of individual rights. But we are all Americans and our rights are in-deed unalienable. We, the governed, demand a better government!

Further, the Tenth Amendment ex-plicitly states: “The powers not del-egated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”

The Tenth Amendment does not work in the reverse. No state gov-ernment can undermine any part of the Constitution that it does not like.

As long as Massachusetts remains part of the United States, it has to abide by the principles explicitly set forth in the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, the Second Amendment stands firm for everybody within the U.S. And as I said before, the Second Amendment is an explicit prohibition on the Government un-equivocally forbidding it from in-fringing on the right of the people to own and bear arms.

Our government was founded to serve the principle of securing indi-vidual rights. That means that we are the masters and government is the servant charged with the sole purpose of securing and protecting the rights of the people.

The idea that we the people require rulers is an ancient saw. Plato came up with the idea over 25 Centuries ago. He said that the people needed a “Philosopher King” to rule them, tell them what to do and in fact lie to them as they were deemed too stupid to conduct their lives.

We Americans founded the United States on the opposite principle. We are autonomous, moral beings; and our freedom is an unalienable right, not just a necessity, to live the best life possible.

We have a right to bear arms to de-fend our lives from criminals, and that includes criminal governments.

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February 2014 GOAL News Print Edition 7

2013 – The Year of the Trojan Horse?

Patriot Games By: Steve Moysey

“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” John Kenneth Gilbraith

Last year was a very interesting one for me and the rest of the GOAL team. The tragedy at Sandy Hook spurred those unfriendly toward the Second Amendment into a fren-zy of activity, all aimed at demon-izing gun owners and certain types of guns. If you cast your minds back to the aftermath of the Sandy Hook incident, on January 16, 2013, Pres-ident Barack Obama announced Now Is the Time, a plan to address firearm violence in order “to better protect our children and our com-munities from tragic mass shoot-ings like those in Newtown, Aurora, Oak Creek, and Tucson.” As part of a series of executive orders, the president tasked the CDC to come up with a report on the state of gun violence in the USA. I’ll come back to this in a while as this is a key event in a year of many key moments.

With the Left clamoring for all sorts of radical changes to our 2A rights – many with little or no thought to how our rights would be infringed, GOAL and the law abiding gun owners of this state went into action. There were panel discussions, pub-lic hearings, TV appearances, radio slots, interviews and public rallies that needed one of us from GOAL to attend. Most of the time we man-aged to get one person to the meet-ing, but there were occasions due to sickness where there was an empty chair that should’ve been filled by GOAL. Many of these tasks fell to GOAL’s Jim Wallace – a seasoned debater and a known quantity with the anti-gun crowd. In January, the team made a decision to roll out their secret weapon against the an-ti-crowd, namely yours truly. It was the English accent, – they just don’t expect a pro-gun activist to open up his mouth and sound like the BBC! I will confess that I love to write, but the introvert in me - yes, I am an INTJ personality type and we are a rare and somewhat odd subset of society - hates public speaking. I got over the fear by having to lecture when I was a graduate school pro-fessor, but that’s another story.

My first panel debate was held at Emerson College last February. I had done my homework on one panelist - the rabidly anti-gun, bill-board owning John Rosenthal and felt ready. I was one of two pro-gun members of the panel and I was seated next to Dr. Jack McDevitt, an Associate Dean at Northeastern University. The debate was spirited, and I felt I had struck up a reason-

able relationship with Jack, despite us not agreeing on very much at all! Our paths would cross again later in the year. I can’t say the same this about our billboard owner. I was not surprised by the suave ease with which facts were mangled, figures manipulated and sound bites tossed out. What did surprise me was that the arguments from him were just that – clichéd sound bites with little substance behind them. Good to know.

In March of last year, Robert DeLeo, Speaker of the House of Represen-tative, formed the Committee to Reduce Firearm Violence to inves-tigate the current and future state of MA gun laws. This august group was to be headed by Dr. Jack McDe-vitt, so maybe our paths were des-tined to cross again after all?

The committee would meet more than 15 times over the next nine month period between March 28, 2013 and the end of December 2013. “We spoke with representatives of 10 different groups (see appendix for listing of representative groups), and individual committee members attended other events, researched other state laws and regulations, reviewed academic literature and mass media articles, and conducted individual interviews to learn more about ways to reduce gun violence in the Commonwealth.”

Remember the report on gun vio-lence the President commissioned from the CDC? Well, it was released in mid-June of 2013 to virtually no fanfare. You can see what I said at the time in my August 2013 Patriot Games column called The Choices We Make.

I was invited to speak before the Committee to Reduce Firearm Violence in September. The seven members politely listened to my 40 minutes of opinions on the 2A and MA law then questioned me for 20 minutes more. It was all very matter of fact and professional. I pulled out a copy of the CDC report and asked the committee if they had read this document. No one in the room or on the phone was even aware of its existence! I found that both shock-ing and disturbing - a group of this supposed pedigree, under the direc-tion of a serious academic, had not factored in to their research a report commissioned by the President?

When we had finished, Jack walked me to the door of the building and asked me a most surprising ques-tion. Would I, on behalf of GOAL, look over the final report of the committee before it was released? I told him I would be delighted to do so, and we parted company. Continued on page 19

The final report was issued at Northeastern University on Mon-day February 3 2014. Was GOAL consulted on the report? No, aside from my time with them in Sep-tember, GOAL was not asked for input on any area of the report. Am I unhappy about that? No, I’m not and I’ll tell you why. The 23 page report is one of the shoddiest docu-ments I have ever had the misfor-tune to read. Given that it came out of Northeastern University, it is a poor reflection on the high stan-dards expected in that respected establishment. Statements made as fact without any supporting or cor-roborating references usually get a student a failing grade. Facts and figures with no citations or state-ment of origin typically guarantee a failing grade. It is also clear that the committee did not read the CDC report either as I recommended

Let’s take a look at a few examples. I know other reports on this docu-ment are going into this newspaper, so I’ll not dwell on the lamentable, and obvious, lack of knowledge on MA gun laws demonstrated by the first few pages, the typos, poor grammar and disgraceful lack of any semblance of academic research. I’m jumping on my pet peeves.

The report touches on the subject of suicide in a couple of section – including one on training:

“In the United States, there are far more suicides than homicides; there are also more gun suicides than gun homicides. Most suicides are gun suicides and an even higher per-centage of homicides are commit-ted with guns. The scientific evi-dence is overwhelming that a gun in the home substantially increases the risk that someone in the home will die of suicide.”

“We also recommend that the fire-arm safety course include a module on suicide. The Committee recom-mends that this course should be designed, based upon the recom-mendations of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association and the Massachusetts Gun Control Advi-sory Board.”

I know the anti-crowd like to con-glomerate all the death statistics, but the numbers are truly eye open-ing. From 2000 to 2010, a total of 335,600 people were killed with a gun, with 61 percent of that num-ber being suicides . That is 56 peo-ple per day – but of that number 22 of those are veterans who we, as a nation, are failing to help deal with their mental scars. While it took 30 years to claim the lives of 547 inno-cent victims of mass shootings, it will take only 25 days for that num-

ber of veterans to take their own lives. But, I am more likely to kill myself if I have a gun? The scientific evidence is overwhelming? Which scientific evidence?

What about if I have rope in the house, or painkiller and alcohol, lighter fuel and a match? Are they more likely to make me kill myself? Suicide is a tragic situation, but de-veloping a module on suicide in a basic pistol course? The CDC made guidelines for journalists when re-search showed that certain ways of describing suicide in the news con-tribute to what behavioral scientists call “suicide contagion” or “copycat” suicides and that exposure to sui-cide method through media reports can encourage vulnerable individu-als to imitate it .

If that is the case, why in all good conscience would anyone want to develop a module for a basic pis-tol course that covered suicide? It makes no sense to me at all.

“The costs of gun violence are enor-mous.”

As a writer, statements like that just send me over the top. No citation or reference, just the writer’s opinion. So how enormous is enormous? Enormous compared to what? What scale of reference do I have to judge this by?

The Committee recommends that no further restriction be placed upon firearm magazine capacity. Current Massachusetts law restricts large capacity magazines to 10 rounds. The Committee believes the current restriction strikes a reason-able balance between public safety and personal liberty.

Why would this committee have the arrogance to perpetuate an ar-bitrary round count limitation for the law abiding gun owners of this state? Why is that 10 round num-ber okay – when in fact it should be abolished altogether. Some on the pro-gun control argument like to cite the limitations that duck hunters have in the shotguns they use—with some states allowing

GOAL News Print Edition February 20148

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GOAL Responds to “Gun Violence” Committee Report Continued from page 1

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confusing gun laws in the country, our members finally had some hope for relief. Sadly, it is GOAL’s opinion that the Committee let our mem-bers, as well as the Speaker down.

It is GOAL’s firm belief that any re-view of the Massachusetts gun laws must begin by acknowledging that the Commonwealth’s gun laws have been an abject failure. Since the pas-sage of the 1998 gun control laws, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) reports that gun crime has drastically increased in the Commonwealth. In the same time period, licensed gun owners have been decreased by over 80%. In the absence of using these facts as a base, the report as a whole is made suspect regardless of whether we agree with parts or not. Unfor-tunately, the Committee chose to ignore these facts and instead relied on flawed testimony that attempts to paint the Commonwealth’s laws in a positive light.

It is evident throughout the report that the Committee did not have a firm grasp of Massachusetts gun laws. This lack of knowledge is quite common as very few individuals have a workable knowledge of the Massachusetts gun laws.

Summary of GOAL’s Positions on the Committee’s Recommendations

Below is GOAL’s critique of the rec-ommendations of the Committee’s report. GOAL does agree with some of the recommendations and those positions are denoted. While agree-ing with some positions, GOAL’s critiques are intended to provide a clear explanation of our objections to others and if possible how they can be corrected.

Prevent Unsuitable Persons from Acquiring Firearms

GOAL opposes this recommenda-tion as suggested, but there is room for improvement.

It has always been GOAL’s conten-tion that the “suitability” clause is unconstitutional as it stands. There should never be an instance where citizens should have to prove their suitability or need to exercise a civil right. As such, the suitability clause should be stricken as a whole.

In this section, the Committee seems to recognize that there has been a long-term problem with the so-called suitability standard. The report is unclear as to how it per-ceives the problem, as their language is written from the view of licens-ing officers rather than aggrieved applicants. While the majority of chiefs have always respected the civil rights of the citizens there are a good number of them that have not.

One major problem with the report is that it recommends NOT plac-ing a definition of suitability in law. The reason stated is to “provide the necessary flexibility and discretion needed in allowing the licensing authority to make a reasoned deci-sion”. If we are not going to protect the civil rights of citizens through the power of law, then how does this improve the plight of the lawful gun owner?

Elimination of the Class B License

GOAL supports this recommenda-tion as it begins the path toward a single license. GOAL has already filed legislation that seeks to re-move this license in H.3264 “An Act Relative to Civil Rights and Public Safety. This legislation is a compre-

hensive package that would reform the state’s gun laws and licensing system.

Firearm Identification Cards In-cluded in the Definition of Suit-ability

GOAL opposes this recommenda-tion as it would increase the ability of the licensing agents to further re-strict the civil rights of lawful citi-zens. Additionally, there has been no evidence shown that demonstrates a problem with the statutory issuance of an FID Card that this measure would fix.

The Committee also did not address arbitrary restrictions. Many lawful citizens who seek to exercise their civil right to keep and bear arms are often automatically or arbitrarily restricted as to how they may exer-cise that right. Many citizens rightly feel this is an unjust attack on their character and their civil rights. The committee should have addressed this in this section.

No Further Restrictions on Maga-zine Capacity

GOAL supports this recommenda-tion, but would have hoped for a greater investigation as to why any limits currently exist. A logical de-termination should have led to the repeal of these laws in Massachu-setts as they have served no purpose in deterring crime. Repealing these laws would also reflect the nation-al trend as the federal government and most states have done away with these restrictions where they existed.

The Ninety (90) Day License Re-newal Process

GOAL supports streamlining the licensing system and assuring that licenses are valid for all lawful pur-poses while going through a renew-al process. We think this is what the Committee is suggesting, but the language in the report is confusing. It refers to doing away with the “90

“It is GOAL’s firm belief that any review of the Massachusetts gun laws must begin by acknowledging that the Commonwealth’s gun laws have been an abject failure.”

February 2014 GOAL News Print Edition 9

GOAL News - Print EditionGOAL Responds to “Gun Violence” Committee Report Continued from page 8

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day expiration period”. We believe they are confusing the 40-day pe-riod to process a license application and the 90-day grace period pro-tecting those who are waiting for the process to be completed.

GOAL opposes civil fines for ex-pired licenses at least until the state can demonstrate its ability to func-tionally maintain a workable license system.

One glaring omission that should be discussed in this section is the lack of oversight of the entire licens-ing system. The Executive Office of Public Safety continues to deny any authority over the local licensing authorities. This creates a system that is designed to be broken. At the top of every bureaucracy there must be some person or entity in charge that has the ultimate authority and responsibility and that simply does not exist in the licensing system.

Improved and Consistent Firearm Safety and Training Required to Obtain a License

GOAL supports firearm safety training but opposes it as a man-datory hurdle to exercising a civil right. The Committee’s recom-mendation includes a mandatory live fire component. Again while we encourage people to seek training, what demonstrable problem exists that would necessitate the need for this mandate?

The Committee also suggests that a “module on suicide” be included in any mandatory firearm safety train-ing. We believe that suicide preven-tion is a noble cause that should be pursued, but are unsure how that curriculum would be formatted.

The recommendation also includes that the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association together with the Gun Control Advisory Board create a standardized and accredited train-ing course. With due respect to the members of those entities and their

commitment to safety, neither are training experts. The expertise in firearm safety training lies with the National Rifle Association, GOAL and our affiliated organizations.

Establish Consistency with Feder-al and Among State Laws

Consistency in law is always im-portant. The Massachusetts gun laws are strewn with contradictions and gray areas. The Committee has three recommendations to pursue under this heading.

• The first would be to prevent a convicted felon from receiv-ing an FID card. GOAL would oppose this recommendation. It should be clarified that only nonviolent felons are allowed to acquire an FID Card.

• The next suggestion is to deny a federally prohibited person from acquiring any firearm. Since fed-eral law allows for citizens to re-establish their Second Amend-ment rights, GOAL would need to see more detailed wording on this point.

• The last recommendation deals with the confusing handgun laws and regulations. The Committee proposes to make the Attorney General’s list and the Approved Firearms Roster under the Ex-ecutive Office of Public Safety consistent. The language in the recommendation is incorrect as there is no Attorney General’s list. Ideally, both the AG’s regu-lations and the EOPSS roster should be repealed as there is no credible evidence to demonstrate a need or positive result of either.

Legal Gun Owners

This seems to be more of an opinion and general statement rather than a recommendation. The statement merely blames irresponsible gun owners for supplying the criminal element with guns. We are not sure

what the Committee is suggesting to be done, but there are already a host of laws that would punish criminals for such activity.

Reducing Gun Trafficking

Massachusetts already has very tough laws on the illegal “traffick-ing” of firearms. Specifically MGL Chapter 269, Section 10E. This law provides for penalties up to ten years in prison and $50,000 fines. To our knowledge, there has never been a prosecution under this law in the fifteen years it has been on the books. There needs to be a serious discussion with prosecutors and law enforcement as to why the current laws are ineffective. (This goes to working from the premise of why the state’s gun laws are a failure.)

The bulk of the recommendations in this section merely place more burdens on lawful gun owners rather than punishing illegal gun traffickers and the criminals that perpetrate crimes with illegaly pos-sessed guns.

The suggested requirement that all private sales go through a licensed retailer is yet another answer to a problem that simply does not ex-ist. All legal sales in Massachusetts already require a background check. Licensed gun owners are limited to four private sales per calendar year. Both the seller and the purchaser must be properly licensed for the gun being transferred in a private sale. Both participants also are re-quired to jointly file an FA-10 form to the state within seven days of

the private sale – either online or through the mail. To not do so is a crime under Chapter 140 Section 128B that is punishable by: “the first offense be punished by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 and for any subsequent offense by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years.”

It is also important to recognize there is no such thing as a “gun show loophole” in the Commonwealth. Licensed retailers at gun shows in Massachusetts are required to fol-low the same procedures that take part in their places of business. For the majority of the gun shows in Massachusetts, both the Executive Office of Public Safety and the Bu-reau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives have a public pres-ence to assist retailers and custom-ers.

The mandate to require private transfers through a licensed retailer would yet again add more costs to being a lawful gun owner as retailers would certainly charge a fee for the process.

Recommending an increased fine for not reporting lost or stolen firearms is not an answer to illegal transfers. One of the concerns that we hear from gun owners who have legitimately been victims of loss or theft is the possibility of having their license revoked. Because of the current laws, this is a very real con-cern. If the state wants lawful gun owners to act as allies, it must work

“The suggested requirement of a lawful citizen signing an affidavit concerning the guns they legally own would be a logistical and civil rights nightmare. The thought of a government making lawful citizens sign such documents should cause anyone to stand up and take notice. ”

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hard to build some trust and part-nership with lawful gun owners.

The requirement for the records of “defunct” retailers to go to the state is presumably for tracing ability. GOAL is unsure just how this in-formation would be used. Since the state is not capable of doing its ini-tial job of maintaining a workable and equitable licensing system, it is unlikely it could take on more du-ties.

The suggested requirement of a lawful citizen signing an affidavit concerning the guns they legally own would be a logistical and civil rights nightmare. The thought of a government making lawful citizens sign such documents should cause anyone to stand up and take notice.

The requirement for licensed retail-ers to conduct background checks on their employees is not objection-able. The state should keep in mind just how many different people are required to receive background checks for various occupations and activities and plan accordingly to ensure that background checks can be conducted in a timely and reli-able manner. It may be prudent for a legislative committee to actually produce a report of how many jobs or activities require a background so that the state can plan accordingly.

The last suggestion in this section is very unclear. It calls for “crime guns” to be routinely traced. Since it is presumed that crime guns are in the hands of criminals, how does the Committee proposed to rou-tinely trace them? The Committee may be suggesting that all firearms recovered from crimes be traced, but the language of the report is

very unclear.

GOAL’s legislation H3264 “An Act Relative to Civil Rights and Public Safety” makes very clear recom-mendations on how guns recovered from criminal acts should be han-dled. The following is the section of the bill that covers this:

Section 9C. Criminal Firearms and Trafficking Division

There shall be attached to the department of the attorney gen-eral a special unit of the state police known as the Criminal Firearms and Trafficking Division, heretofore referred to as the division. The divi-sion shall assist the office of the at-torney general in investigating and prosecuting all state firearm crimes. In its investigations the division shall compile data regarding but not limited to the following:

If the suspect would be considered a prohibited person as defined in Sec-tion 9A;

1. Determine if the suspect obtained the firearm illegally;

2. Determine the source from which the suspect illegally obtained the firearm;

3. Create a database of all fire-arms recovered as stolen property;

4. Create a database of all firearms used in state firearm crimes within the commonwealth. The data-base shall include the following:

A. The make, model and serial number of the firearm;

B. Any fingerprint evidence found on the firearm;

C. Any ballistic evidence that can be retrieved from the crime

scene;

D. If the criminal use of the firearm was relat-ed to known gang activity;

Mandatory Storage of Firearms

GOAL supports giving citizens tax incentives to purchase safe storage equipment. We currently have two pieces of legislation that would ac-complish this task.

H. 3275 “An Act Relative to Sales Tax Exemptions for Gun Safes and Trigger Locks”

H.3276 “An Act Relative to Gun Safe Deductions”

These pieces of legislation would ac-tually encourage gun owners rather than continually threaten them.

GOAL agrees with the Committee that there should be no mandate to store guns outside the home.

Measures to Improve School Safety

There are several suggestions by the Committee to create better ac-tion plans throughout school sys-tems. Among those plans is the use of School Resource Officers. This is the same point the National Rifle Association made in 2013 that was received with ridicule. GOAL would like the opportunity to review any such action plans as we may be able to provide some professional input.

GOAL does not support the manda-tory “arming” of teachers. They have a tough enough job without being in charge of armed security. Rather, we need to do away with the con-cept that schools are a victim zone. We can do that by placing doubt in the minds of potential threats. This

would include the ability of lawful gun owners to traverse school prop-erties and attend school events. This alone would provide some reason-able safety to our children.

One recommendation in this sec-tion is the calling for doubling the penalty for possessing a firearm on school grounds needs serious re-consideration. There is a very im-portant argument that such laws should be repealed entirely. Since the vast majority of mass murders happen in so-called gun free zones, there needs to be a deliberate dis-cussion about changing these po-lices.

Another glaring omission from this report is any recommendation for firearm safety education in the schools. The vast majority of school systems in Massachusetts offer no such education and it shows. In an age where we provide students with a variety of safety education, why do Massachusetts schools refuse to provide firearm safety education? The only answer is political opinion and that is an unacceptable answer for those who call themselves edu-cational professionals.

Violence, Mental Illness and Sub-stance Abuse

The language in this section is rath-er confusing. What is obvious is that Massachusetts should become com-pliant with the 2007 NICs Improve-ment Amendment Act (NIAA). What may have been helpful is if the Committee offered the follow-ing information.

In 2007 Congress passed the NIAA after the murders at Virginia Tech by a deranged killer. The follow-ing is a statement on the Bureau of Justice Services web page regarding that legislation .

How are the terms “adjudicated as a mental defective” and “com-mitted to a mental institution” de-fined?

Section 922(g)(4), Title 18, United States Code, prohibits the receipt or possession of firearms by an in-dividual who has been “adjudicated as a mental defective” or “commit-ted to a mental institution.” Regu-lations issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Ex-plosives (ATF), 27 C.F.R. § 478.11, define these terms as follows:

Adjudicated as a mental defective.

(1) A determination by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease:

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Statistics from the Commonwealth’s own Injury Surveillance Program clearly show that the laws passed in 1998 have done nothing to prevent gun violence.

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• Is a danger to himself or to oth-ers; or

• Lacks the mental capacity to con-tract or manage his own affairs.

(2) The term shall include —

• A finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case; and

• Those persons found incompe-tent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of lack of men-tal responsibility pursuant to articles 50a and 72b of the Uni-form Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. 850a, 876b.

Committed to a mental institution. A formal commitment of a person to a mental institution by a court, board, commission, or other law-ful authority. The term includes a commitment to a mental institu-tion involuntarily. The term in-

crisis is not as simple as it may seem. Any such action must be conducted by a person who is properly licensed and is familiar with the laws. It is important for family and friends to lend support and in some cases intervene, but it must be done with great care.

The other problem with this ap-proach is what happens to the fire-arms when it is perceived that the person is over their crisis. Most fam-ily members and friends are often fooled by someone who becomes harmful. Such people often disguise their symptoms to the point where the people closest to them are con-vinced they are fine. Much more thought would have to be given to any such public service campaign.

Mental Health Services and School Supports

GOAL supports measures that ef-fectively reduce gun violence and violence in general. One such pro-gram that did not make the list is the Massachusetts Crime Watch Commission. This program was

During the press conference for the release of this report several mem-bers of the Committee stated that we could not “prosecute our way out of the problem”. While inter-vention is a very important part of reducing crime and saving youths, it is also necessary to give law enforce-ment the tools to deal with hardcore criminals. Sadly, the Committee of-fered no such recommendations.

GOAL would have liked to see the Committee give serious consider-ation to our legislation, H.3264 “An Act Relative to Civil Rights and Pub-lic Safety”. This bill represents the only comprehensive redraft of the failed Massachusetts gun laws. The legislation proposes an entirely new approach to gun laws that would re-spect the civil rights of lawful citi-zens and give law enforcement the tools it needs to get tough on the human criminal element. The fol-lowing are just some of the concepts covered in the legislation.

Here’s how H.3264 would strength-en our criminal laws:

• It creates a special unit of the State Police, known as the Criminal Fire-arms and Trafficking Division that will be attached to the Department of the Attorney General and will as-sist that office with the investigation and prosecution of all crimes of violence involving the criminal use of a firearm and intrastate firearms trafficking.

GOAL Responds to “Gun Violence” Committee Report Continued from page 10

“Why do Massachusetts schools refuse to provide firearm safety education?”

Statistics from the FBI showing violent crime rates in New England, more evidence that the laws passed in 1998 have done nothing to improve public safety.

cludes commitment for mental de-fectiveness or mental illness. It also includes commitments for other reasons, such as for drug use. The term does not include a person in a mental institution for observation or a voluntary admission to a men-tal institution

The Governor’s bill, H.47 “An Act to Strengthen and Enhance Fire-arms Laws in the Commonwealth” purports to address the new re-quirements of the NIAA, but uses incorrect terms with no definitions. Rather utilizing “adjudicated as a mental defective” or “committed to a mental institution”, H.47 uses the term “confined”.

There is another suggestion by the committee that could cause seri-ous problems. Encouraging family members to remove firearms from individuals who might be facing a

GOAL is not an expert on the men-tal health needs of the state nor do we purport to be. We have been ed-ucated enough in the past few years in dealing with the issue to suggest that the legislature may want to consider a Mental Health Bond Bill.

It is obvious that there needs to be much more investment in mental health in the Commonwealth. It is also apparent that no one person or organization knows exactly what is needed. Is it outpatient services, bed space, major facilities, etc.? The very process of moving a bond bill through the legislative process would greatly aid in the effort to find those answers.

Urban Violence

This section discusses the activa-tion of several programs that have been tossed around for many years.

extremely successful in reducing crime in neighborhoods all over the Commonwealth, but was defunded several years ago. The legislature should investigate the possibility of re-instating this highly effective program.

GOAL News Print Edition February 201412

GOAL News - Print Edition• It will create tough laws to pun-ish prohibited persons who are in possession of firearms.

• Creating laws regarding breaking and entering with the intent to steal a firearm.

• Creating clear to understand un-lawful transfer laws.

• Creating laws to punish those engaged in unlawful intrastate commerce of firearms.

• Creating laws preventing the un-lawful confiscation of firearms.

• Creating laws regarding the use of a “Deceptive Weapon.”

• Creating a separate definition section for the criminal enforce-ment chapter.

• Creating a “State Firearm Crime”.

Here’s how H.3264 would enhance individual rights:

• Make it very clear that there is an individual civil right to keep and bear arms and that the govern-ment must operate under that presumption.

• Reduce the number and types of firearm licenses (currently four) to one.

• Create understandable and com-monsense terminology that is currently used and understood by the firearms owning commu-nity.

• Create a new definition of a “Prohibited Person” and using that term throughout the laws as the means of legitimately deny-ing a citizen a firearm license.

• Make the rights inherent for the license based on the age of the holder rather than having to ac-quire a new license at a particular age.

• Remove the authority of local li-censing agents to deny a person’s civil rights without due process.

• Create clear language for the ju-dicial review process of a denied license.

• Remove jail sentences for lawful possession infractions and mov-ing any jail time related offenses to the criminal enforcement chapter.

Conclusion

Once again GOAL would like to commend Speaker DeLeo’s efforts in attempting to take a deliberate and professional approach to this very sensitive issue. It is GOAL’s

opinion that the Committee did his request a disservice. The report that was released by the Committee fell short of what a nine month long effort by professionals should have produced. After thoroughly reading the report it was clear that it was not proofed or vetted by anyone who understands the current gun laws. While there are a few things that could benefit lawful gun owners, the bulk of the recommendations call for more burdens on law abid-ing citizens.

Since the body of the material did not begin with the premise that Massachusetts gun laws have been an abject failure at reducing crime or respecting the civil rights of citi-zens one would logically suppose it was destined to fail. In the Com-mittees own conclusion it was giv-ing “recommendations to further reduce gun violence in the Com-monwealth.” This statement alone is a great indicator of the lack of understanding of the state of vio-lence. Gun violence in Massachu-setts has risen over the last fifteen years. According to the Massachu-setts Department of Public Health ISP Reports gun related homicides have doubled and gun related as-saults have tripled since the 1998 Gun Control Act became law. Sadly, there is no mention of this in the re-port.

There are currently volumes of problems with the current laws that prevent effective criminal enforce-ment and smooth exercise of the civil right to keep and bear arms. These problems range from legal definitions that make no sense to gun owners, to restrictions on cer-tain firearms in common use that serve no purpose, to storage and transportation laws that confuse law enforcement, to a complete lack of state oversight of the entire li-censing system. The Committee had an outstanding opportunity to ad-dress fifteen years of frustration and failed law, but chose not to.

Perhaps the greatest disappoint-ment is the omission of any sub-stantive recommendations that would actually reduce gun violence. Intervention programs for youth are important, but so is education and that was ignored in the report.

It’s important to deter and fight crimes with intervention programs. There are useful tools and creative initiatives that should be consid-ered that will aid law enforcement and prosecutors in catching and punishing illegal gun traffickers and violent criminals. These same criminals are mostly responsible for recruiting youth into the criminal world. Getting these “recruiters” off

the streets and away from our youth goes a long way towards interven-tion and reducing crime.

In light of this substandard report, GOAL would like to offer the Speak-er our assistance in crafting a pro-fessional document and any subse-quent legislation. Our expertise in dealing with the day-to-day opera-tion of the current gun laws added with our professional level of fire-arm safety experience should result in a much more comprehensive and effective outcome. We look forward to working with the Speaker and the legislature as a whole to allevi-ate our citizenry from the burdens of crime and laws that continue to persecute the innocent.

Massachusetts Department of Pub-lic Health Injury Surveillance Sys-tem (ISP) : http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/pro-grams/health-stats/injury-suveil-lance/

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Weapon Related In-jury Surveillance System (WRISS) http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/de p a r t m en t s / d ph / pro g r a m s /health-stats/injury-suveillance/re-ports/weapon-related-injury-sur-veillance-system.html

Bureau of Justice website - NICS

Improvement Amendments Act of 2007: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=49

GOAL’s 2013 Report: Gun Crime Rates Since the Passage of the 1998 Gun Control Act : http://www.goal.org/2013-gun-crime-report.html

Chapter 180’s 15 Year Report Card: Massachusetts Gun Laws Receive Failing Grades : http://www.goal.org/newspages/15-year-report-card.html

GOAL’s 2012 Report: MA Homi-cides Doubled Since 1998 : http://www.goal.org/newspages/homi-cides-doubled-since-1998.html

GOAL’s 2009 Report: The 1998 MA Gun Control Act Continues To Be A Public Threat : http://www.goal.org/regulationpages/1998guncontrol.html

GOAL’s 2008 Report: “A Decade of Disaster” marking the 10th anniver-sary of Chapter 180 : http://www.goal.org/newspages/decadeofdisas-ter.html

GOAL’s Massgunlawreform.com site : http://www.massgunlawre-form.com

Full report by the MA Committee to Reduce Gun Violence: http://goal.org/Documents/2014-MA-Gun-Vi-olence-Report.pdf

“Massachusetts gun laws have been an abject failure at reducing crime or respecting the civil rights of citizens”

GOAL Responds to “Gun Violence” Committee Report Continued from page 11

AdvertiseIn GOAL News Print Edition!

February 2014 GOAL News Print Edition 13

GOAL News - Print EditionGOAL Rolls Out New Courses

February 7, 2014

The Staff is pleased to offer sever-al new courses for 2014. Weekend classes added too!

Michael Anthony is a GOAL Direc-tor at Large and has been teaching martial arts for 32 years. He is pres-ently a certified 7th degree black with the World Taekwondo Fed-eration in Korea. In addition, he is a certified Personal Defense Readi-ness (PDR) coach and has taught women’s self-defense and combat-ives programs for the US Army and various law enforcement agencies around the world. Michael will be teaching the following courses:

Close Quarters Combatives: Man-aging through the ambush. Cre-ating the time & space to get to your gun or defensive techniques in an ambush-like surprise attack. Course will cover encroachment drills, personal safety zones, the three elements of confrontation (physical, psychological and emo-tional), threat detection/defusion/defense, and effective practical tech-niques for self-defense using com-mon everyday movement. Class is a combination of classroom lec-ture/discussion, video analysis, and physical workout.

Practical Self-defense for Women: This is a practical self-defense class focused on women’s concerns and issues regarding personal safety. Course will cover situational aware-ness, social and asocial violence, encroachment drills, improvised weapons, personal safety zones, the three elements of confrontation (physical, psychological and emo-tional), threat detection/defusion/defense, and effective practical tech-niques for self-defense using com-mon everyday movement. Class is a combination of classroom lec-ture/discussion, video analysis, and physical workout.

Jon Green has developed GOAL’s new Principals of Concealed Carry. This course is designed to introduce guests to concealment methods, drawing and firing, reloading op-tions and various firing techniques. Several loaner equipment packages will be available on a 1st come 1st served basis. Principals of Con-cealed Carry will be one of several prerequisites accepted for the very dynamic EDC Skills & Knowledge course. Class size will be limited to 8 student to insure individualized attention.

Complementing GOAL’s Introduc-tion to the Modern Sporting Rifle class, GOAL has added 2 dynamic carbine classes. Scott Germain of Center Mass Weapons Training will be teaching a two day course

for GOAL in April. Scott is a re-tired combat Veteran who served 25 years in the United States Army. He earned his Green Beret in 1993 and spent the next 20 years in the United States Special Forces and Special Mission Unit (SMU), retir-ing as a Sergeant Major (SGM) in September 2012. He has extensive combat tours throughout the conti-nents of Asia, Africa and Europe in-cluding Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Scott has trained SOF Op-erators, FBI, SAS, NATO, and other Federal Law Enforcement Agencies in small arms, heavy weapons and numerous other skills used today by our Military and federal law en-forcement.

Wes Dos of Khyber Interactive As-sociates will be in central Massa-chusetts in late August to provide the very sought after Khyber 2-Day Tactical Carbine course. Wes is an internationally recognized firearms, tactics, and use of force instructor with over 20 years of military & ci-vilian criminal justice experience, as well as significant operational time with both military & law enforce-ment tactical operations & protec-tive service organizations. Wes has also studied adult education & hu-man performance extensively and has a broad background in the mar-tial arts, with over 25 years of train-ing, teaching, full contact fighting experience. Wes is the Founder, President, & General Operating Manager of Khyber Interactive As-sociates, LLC and the 1 inch to 100 yards Warrior Conference LLC. Wes holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration and an up-per level Doctorate in Psychology, with an emphasis on sports and performance psychology.

Rob Pincus of ICE Training Com-pany is back in September and will be running Combat Focus Shoot-ing, Advanced Pistol Handling and Combat Focus Carbine. Unfortu-nately, Rob’s courses are already filled. GOAL Staff is taking names for the waiting lists. You can find a complete list of ICE Training events at http://www.icetraining.us/

All of these class tuitions are well below the trainer’s usual rate. GOAL has formed many great relation-ships with top trainers from around the US. We are pleased to provide reduced rates for our members. Thanks for what you do to protect our rights! Please contact Angela Fisher at 508-393-5333 ext. 20 to register.

Close Quarters Combatives with Mike Anthony

March 4, June 5, September 4 & No-vember 6

6PM – 9PM at GOAL Headquarters

Tuition $60 for GOAL members and $100 for non-members

Practical Self Defense for Women with Mike Anthony

March 20, June 19, September 18 & November 20

6PM – 9PM at GOAL Headquarters

Tuition $25

Principals of Concealed Carry with GOAL

April 22, May 3, May 27, June 28, July 19, Oct 18

10AM – 5PM at the Worcester Pistol & Rifle Club in Boylston, MA

Tuition $125 for GOAL members and $175 for non-members

Progressive Carbine with Scott Germain of Center Mass

April 29-30

9AM – 5PM at the Worcester Pistol & Rifle Club in Boylston, MA

Tuition $200 for GOAL members and $300 for non-members

Khyber Tactical Carbine with Wes Dos

August 28 & 29 Location TBA

9AM – 5PM

Tuition $350 for GOAL members and $400 for non-members

Mike Anthony

Scott Germain

Wes Dos

Rob Pincus

GOAL News Print Edition February 201414

GOAL News - Print EditionMaspenock Junior Rifle - Season Underway!

Continued page 18

Maspenock Junior Rifle Febru-ary Match Results and Cumulative Standing – James Lee.

The Maspenock Junior Rifle league consists of 7 teams from Harvard Sportsman Association, Holliston Sportsmen’s Association, Marlbor-ough Fish and Game, Maspenock Rod and Gun Club (Milford, MA), Maynard Rod and Gun and South-borough Rod and Gun Club.

The February match was held Feb-ruary 8’th in Harvard and Milford with Harvard hosting Husdon and Marlborough and Maspenock host-ing Holliston, Southborough and Maynard. In total 45 competitors participated in the match.

Individually Abby Monique of Southborough took first with a score of 260 for the match, and 790 for the season so far. In second place for the match is Chris Milliken of Maspe-nock with a 246 for the match and a cumulative 666. Third for the match goes to Colleen O’Shea of Harvard with a 243 for the match and a cu-mulative. AJ Carmody of Marlbor-ough had a 239 and a cumulative 765 for second place overall.

While the intermediate and ad-vanced shooters shoot from three positions, prone (laying down), off-hand (Standing), and kneeling the beginners shoot only prone. For the prone shooters, Nina Eisenhofer of Riverside took first with a personal best of 245, Alex Clark of Maspe-nock took second with 237 and Sean Cannistraro of Harvard took 3rd with 217.

As the season progresses begin-ners progress from shooting prone only to shooting all three positions. Having advanced so for this season from prone to three-position are Ethan Starbard of Southbrough and Luke Phillips of Harvard.

For team scores, Malrborough has first place with 907 (2817 cumula-tive) based on their top four scores, AJ Carmody 239, Colton Valchuis 225, Gianna Ferrecchia 223 and Paul Ferrecchia 220. In second place for the match is Harvard with 891 (2603 third place cumulative) based on the scores of Colleen O’Shea 234, Haley Dickinson 223, Nick Pelrine 218 and Mary Anne Anderson 207. Third for the match was Southbor-

ough with 883 (2619 second place cumulative) based on the scores of Abby Monique 260, John Renzoni 212, Brett LeBow 208 and Beau Mumford 203.

Congratulations go to all 45 com-petitors who participated. Every-one had a great time and many shot personal bests.

Each of the teams is co-ed and boys and girls compete directly, in the standings listed about ½ of the lead-ers are girls showing marksmanship is a great co-ed sport. If you or your club is are considering getting your child involved please contact one of the participating clubs. The season starts in the fall (varying dates with

each club) and all that is needed is a good attitude and the time to par-ticipate. Some clubs may have space to accommodate late comers in the season for those who want to try it out. Each of the clubs provides all the equipment, clubs charge vary-ing but small program fees to help fund the programs.

The remaining competitions of the season are:

March 8th - Harvard hosting Mas-penock and Marlborough.

Southborough hosting Holliston, Hudson and Maynard.

March 29th - Harvard hosting all

Coleen O’Shea (foreground) and Luke Phillips of Harvard at the start of the prone stage of the match. Coleen is working towards her expert qualifications. Luke is shooting a personal best at his second

three-position match.

February 2014 GOAL News Print Edition 15

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GOAL News Print Edition February 201416

GOAL Training

Course Date Tuition Time

The Art of Concealed Carry in Massachusetts

May 8, June 12, September 17, November 19

Members $75.00 / Non-Members $125.00

5:30 - 10:00 PM

Basic Metallic Cartridge Reload-ing

March 18-19, 2014 Members $110.00 / Non-Mem-bers $140.00

5:30 - 10:00 PM

Basic Pistol Course (NRA LTC-002)

March 11, April 15 Members $95.00 / Non-Members $145.00

9:30 AM - 6:30 PM

BFS Primer Course for State Certified Instructors

Look for 2014 dates soon! Members $35.00 / Non-Members $65.00

6:00 - 9:00 PM (Weeknights)

Close Quarters Combatives with Mike Anthony

March 4, June 5, September 4, November 6

Members $60.00 / Non-Members $100.00

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Combat Focus Shooting - Ad-vanced Pistol Handling with Rob Pincus

**September 22-23, 2014 Members Only $350.00 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Combat Focus Shooting (Car-bine) with Rob Pincus

**September 24, 2014 Members Only $200.00 Sold Out! 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

MA Gun Law for Citizens New Dates Soon! Members $20.00 / Non-Members $75.00

Noon - 3:00 PM

Practical Self Defense for Wom-en with Michael Anthony

March 20, June 19, September 18, November 20

Members $25.00 Non-Members $25.00

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Principles of Concealed Carry *NEW CLASS*

April 22, 2014 Members $125.00 Non-Members $175.00

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Utah Non-Resident CCW March 9 Members $80.00/ Non-Members $150.00

12:00 - 5:00 (Weekend Class)

5:30 PM - 10:00 PM (Weeknights)

2014 GOAL Training Schedule

Below is the schedule for courses held at GOAL Headquarters in Northboro, Massachusetts (unless otherwise noted).

All NRA Basic Pistol courses offered through GOAL exceed standards established in accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter . 140, § 131P and 515 CMR 3.00 Please note: All courses run 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm unless otherwise noted.

All courses require pre-regisration paid in full. This can be done in person at The GOAL office, via phone 508-393-5333 x20, or via email by contacting Angela Fisher.

**Please Note** Registration for the three Rob Pincus classes will not open until Tuesday January 7, 2014

Mossberg 590 Tactical 12ga Shotgun - Big Bang Raffle Enter into our Big Bang Raffle and you might win this shotgun!

See page 8 for details including the full list of prizes.(Shotgun pictured is a stock photo and not the actual shotgun to be raffled)

February 2014 GOAL News Print Edition 17

Win a Trip to the NRA Annual Meeting!

GOAL News - Print Edition

Join GOAL - Protecting Your Freedom Begins Here!Gun Owners’ Action League is the official state firearms association in Massachusetts. We are an asso-ciation of law-abiding citizens who believe in the basic right of firearms ownership for competition, recre-ation and self-protection.

GOAL works hard to defend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights against those in Massachusetts who wish to infringe upon the freedoms guaranteed by our forefathers. The programs sponsored and developed by Gun Owners’ Action League are supported by competitors, sports-men, recreational shooters and law enforcement throughout the state.

We were formed in 1974 to protect the right to keep and bear arms for lawful purposes in the Common-wealth of Massachusetts. We are recognized as the state’s premier gun rights association.

Why You Should Join GOAL

Every intrusion on our gun rights is an intrusion on all rights. The Con-stitutional rights and freedoms that

you enjoy - and may take for grant-ed - are becoming more fragile each day. Secure your rights for yourself, your family and future generations.

Join GOAL and become part of the solution today.

GOAL is giving away a trip to the 2014 NRA Annual Meetings & Ex-hibits!

Drawing is April 4th 2014 - See order form on page 17 to enter or visit www.goal.org

The prize package will include $500.00 to cover airfare, three nights hotel stay - April 24, 25, 26 in an NRA hotel adjacent to the meet-ings (1 queen size bed) and 2 tickets to the following events:

NRA Foundation Banquet

Thursday, April 24, 2014 7:00 PM - Lucas Oil Stadium

Bid on exclusive firearms, outdoor gear and unique merchandise and hunts, this year’s event will feature an exciting evening of food, games

and silent and live auctions. Join other Second Amendment enthusi-asts for a night of fundraising and fun, and support the next genera-tion by leaving a legacy for the fu-ture of America’s shooting tradi-tions. All proceeds benefit The NRA Foundation.

Sponsored by Cabela’s and Univer-sal Coin & Bullion.

Leadership Forum

Friday, April 25, 2014 1:00 PM - Lu-cas Oil Stadium

Join Wayne LaPierre and NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox, along with our nation’s top Second Amendment leaders in government, the media, and the entertainment industry, as we build our battle plan

for defending our freedom and de-feating Barack Obama’s gun control agenda. Seating is limited.

NRA Country

Friday, April 25, 2014 7:00 PM

The Crane Bay - 551 W. Merrill Street, Indianapolis

Mark your calendars now for the NRA Country Jam on Friday, April 25! Past performers include Craig Morgan, Trace Adkins, The Eli Young Band and many more. We hope you join us for a upbeat, af-fordable, family night of great mu-sic and fun!

Sponsored by Bushnell and benefit-ting Folds of Honor.

Celebrations of American Values

Saturday, April 26, 2014 7:00 PM - Lucas Oil Stadium

After a 10-year touring hiatus, leg-endary country super group ALA-BAMA will take the stage for a must-see special performance for NRA members. Female Vocalist of the Year award winner Sara Evans will open.

Pre-Show sponsored by Remington.

Prayer Breakfast

Sunday, April 27, 2014 7:00 AM

JW Marriott Indianapolis - White River Ballroom

Join over 1,000 NRA members and guests for the NRA Annual Meeting Prayer Breakfast. We welcome Dr. Franklin Graham as our Keynote Speaker. Dr. Graham is an world-renowned evangelist and mission-ary. He is the president and CEO of both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and the inter-national Christian relief organiza-tion Samaritan’s Purse.

Sponsored by Trijicon and Univer-sal Coin & Bullion.

Trace Adkins was the featured performer at the 2013 NRA Country show. Look for a great

headline act at this year’s event as well!The NRA Exhibits - everything you could ever want to see in the gun world, all under one roof!

GOAL News Print Edition February 201418

GOAL News - Print Edition

Scheduled InstructorsBill Lewitt - Tactical MedicineCecil Burch - Ground FightingWes Doss - Two Man Team TacticsChris Fry - Shotgun TechniquesDave Harrington - Defensive PistolKelly Venden - AR PlatformMike Centola - Computer SecurityMike Janich - Intro to Knife TechniquesWilliam Aprill - Disarms and Take-awaysMike Seeklander - CCW Handgun SkillsWe will be working with the instructors to ensure that this summit will have the best mix of subject matter ever. You can be assured that there will be shooting sessions, hands-on sessions and classroom sessions. Lunch hour lecture. Tune up your skills!Additionally, there will be an industry sponsor grab-bag, a Man-on-Man Shoot Off with prize money added and a raffle.The cost to attend the summit is only $350. Members of Pelham F&G, GOAL, GO-NH, NYFirearms or for two (or more) people signing up at the same time the cost is only $300 each.

Advance sign up is required for all.

NEShooters Summit 2014Pelham Fish & Game Club, Pelham, NH

NEShooters, LLCis pleased to present our

7th Annual Summit MeetingApril 11-13, 2014[Note: Date Change]

The focus this year will be on enhancing your defensive skills. The summit will last for two and a half days and will allow the participants to meet with and learn from the training industry’s leading experts.This is the best value for training this year. Don’t miss it!

Our Sponsors - Thank You!Pelham Fish & Game ClubGun Owners of New Hampshire, Inc.Gun Owners Action LeagueShivworks (SouthNarc)NYFirearms

NEShooters, LLC.P.O. Box 243Hollis, NH 03049-0243978-815-1764team@neshooters.comwww.neshooters.com

Note: Instructors and class content subject to change without notice. Best effort made for equal value.

Firearms, ammunition sales, transFers and lots oF other Fun products

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clubs for a 50 yard out door match.

Each of the teams in the league is funded by a combination of their program fees which range from free to nominal chargers to partially cover expenses, funding from the host clubs, various fund raisers and grants from the NRA foundation. Please consider making a donation to the Junior rifle program at your local club.

Maspenock - Continued from page 14

Many thanks go out to the head coaches of the teams, the assistant coaches and particularly the parent volunteers who kept the coaches, competitors and spectators fed at the clubs.

About the Author: James Lee is a volunteer assistant coach in the league and is the publi-cist for the league.

February 2014 GOAL News Print Edition 19

GOAL News - Print Edition

Edward George &Associates

We concentrate in civil litigation representing closely held businesses including negotiation and court appearances in matters involving real estate, business, contracts and environmental disputes.

We also concentrate in representing individuals and families in trust and probate (estate) litigation and administration and personal injury claims.

We advise small businesses, clubs and associations regarding compliance with regulations, risk management, employment and compliance with regulations, risk management, employment and related issues.

We serve as general counsel to a number of corporations, LLC’s and partnerships.

444 Washington St.Suite 510

Woburn, MA. 01801

Tel: 781-281-7288 Fax: 781-305-3259email: Ed@EGALawOffices.com

www.edgeorgelaw.com

Upcoming Competition and EventsPatriot Games Continued from page 7

• Hopkinton Sportsman’s Club is looking for a Jr Rifle Program In-structor to hold a regularly scheduled course at the indoor range this fall. The person would have to have an NRA certification as Jr Rifle Instructor, and complete a CORI review. The club has all of the equipment to outfit and equip the students on site. If you would like to get involved in this great program please contact John Coutinho at 508-801-5000.

• Swift River Sportsman’s Club Winter Indoor Archery begins on Jan-uary 3, 2014. Spot League is held on Mondays, Hunter League is held on Tuesdays, Family Fun League is held on Fridays and Youth League is held on Saturdays. Open to the public. For more information please call the club at 413-323-9387 or Dana at 413-583-2304.

• Leominster Sportsmen’s Association - Winter Rifle Matches - De-cember 1st through the end of March, Sunday mornings 9-11 am, Offhand (standing up) from our woodstove-heated range house. It’s any rifle, any caliber, any sights, 20 shots in 20 minutes at 100 yards. Costs $5 - half goes to prizes for the various skill levels. You can use 22’s, service rifles, muskets or fine target rifles, scoped or iron sights. Kids shoot for free at 50 yards. Our crackshot riflemen will be glad to give you pointers to improve your skills so you won’t miss that deer next time. What a great way to cope with the ammo shortage - use any rifle you’ve got ammo for, learn & practice to make every shot count!

• The Tewksbury Rod & Gun Club’s SCTP trap shooting program This competitive shotgun program is for youth shooters, no experi-ence necessary, in grades 5 thru 12. Please contact Steve Stella, Tewks-bury SCTP Head Coach at Coach_Steve@tewksburyrodandgun.org or call 978-328-2120 for more info. The team is waiting to meet you!

• Wrentham Sportsmen’s Association - March 9 Centerfire Rifle (bench rest) - March 23 Black Powder Pistol - April 6 Turkey/Shot-gun (no slugs) #4,5, or 6 shot - all are $20.00 entry fee. 1:00 pm start.

• Petersham Gun Club - Sporting Clays course open every Wednesday at 12 noon. Sundays open 10am till 1pm. Hot lunch served every Sunday. Contact petershamgunclub12@gmail.com.

• If your club has an open to the public event you would like to pro-mote, please email the info to mike@goal.org

Have you been denied an LTC? Has an old conviction,

minor Þrearms conviction or a minor drug offense caused you to lose your

LTC/FID?

We may be able to help, email help@comm2a.org, include the reason the PD supplied for denial.

Comm2A is a non-proÞt public charity organized under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. Contributions made to Comm2A are fully

tax deductible and always welcome.

www.comm2a.orginfo@comm2a.org

(617) 942-0660PO Box 301398

Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Comm2A has multiple pending cases in federal court in an effort to ensure state Þrearms law treats all lawful residents equally and fairly.

them only three cartridges at a time in the gun for conservation reasons. How many cartridges might the duck hunters want if the ducks were armed and shooting back? That is not as absurd as it may sound as the old adage in the tactical use of firearms is that it’s the bad guys in a firefight who determine how many rounds are needed. Limiting civilians to an arbitrary number of rounds, such as seven or ten, limits their ability in a self-defense situa-tion, as the bad guys do not abide by the law; they are going to use the higher capacity magazines no mat-ter what the law says.

In a lethal force critical encounter, psychological and physiological forces come into play that impact even highly trained shooters in a negative fashion. The body becomes flooded with adrenaline, heart rate increases dramatically, tunnel vi-sion kicks in, time perception is stretched out, and auditory exclu-sion blocks out much sound. Un-der such conditions, marksmanship takes a nosedive, and the sad truth is that, nationally, law enforcement officers will miss with 60 —80% of their shots in such an encounter. Tactically, more rounds in a maga-zine are safer in a defensive critical encounter than a lower number .

The same can happen to law abid-ing civilians who may be forced to use a lower capacity magazine due to an arbitrary limitation placed by law. This only makes them more vulnerable in a threat situation and does absolutely nothing to increase public safety. Real life is not the same as Hollywood’s depiction of how guns and ammunition work. Bad guys don’t always drop imme-diately when shot, unless the round strikes the central nervous system, compromises the skeletal frame, or happen to be fired by Bruce Willis

in a Die Hard movie. Violent crimi-nals can and do keep fighting, even when shot multiple times, and may overpower and kill a victim that could be holding an empty firearm. Reloading is not always an option in a lethal force encounter, so reducing available round count only increases tactical and personal vulnerability.

In a recent survey of 15,000 active law enforcement officers, 95% of all respondents said that a federal ban on manufacture and sale of ammu-nition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds would not reduce violent crime and would, in fact, in-crease the vulnerability of law abid-ing gun owners in a lethal force en-counter .

So why, Dr. McDevitt, would you say ten rounds is “a reasonable bal-ance between public safety and per-sonal liberty.”

I wrote an “F” on the front of the report in bold black marker. The cynic in me feels this is not the work of a committee of seven profession-als. It has the feel of a report that was hastily thrown together because the original report that was submit-ted was, for some reason, found to be politically unacceptable. Hence the result of a rushed rewrite is this poor excuse for a report. It’s telling enough that the Speaker was not at the press conference when the re-port was released. I guess he had more pressing matters to deal with.

Now, I’m not starting a conspiracy theory here, but what if there were two reports- the original and this latest waste of ink and paper? Could it have been a Trojan horse, full of bigger surprises? I guess we will never find that out.

God Bless America

GOAL News Print Edition February 201420

Work Party credits are tied to the new renewal schedule. There is still time to earn renewal points for 2014 / 2015.

Please remember to use the dud bucket. Try to remember to put duds only in the dud bucket. Expended brass goes in the brass buckets.

Website:

Website maintenance continues on an almost daily basis. Craig Hibbert has made numerous changes to the cal-endar, updated the format to support a new tab with meeting minutes and maintained the home page. Please contact Bill for any questions regarding the website.

Membership – Brian Frappier

The current Membership stands at 779 members.

This breaks down to 46 Life, 729 Regu-lar, 2 Junior and 2 Honorary.

2014 Renewals are due by March 6, 2014 with no penalty fees. Anyone who renews by April 3rd, will have to pay a $25.00 Late Charge. Anyone who is not renewed by the April 3 meeting will be dropped from Membership. There will be no way to renew their Mem-bership after that date. If they want Membership they will need to reapply for Membership all over again, includ-ing sending in another Application for Membership and being put on the waiting list to attend an Orientation meeting. The only exception to this will be LIFE MEMBERS.

We have had 355 Members renew so far, not counting any tonight.

We still have 79 Members who have not picked up their fob. Fifteen members have paid for their fob, but have not picked it up. Sixty-four members have not paid for their fobs. Fobs will be mailed upon receipt of a $8.00 check, made out to WPRC, and mailed to Bri-an Frappier, Membership, 8 Pineview Trail, Auburn, MA. 01501-2120

Anyone wanting Membership in the Club must send in a completed and signed Application for Membership. When this is received their name will be put on a wait list by the date we re-ceive it. To date we have 49 on the wait list and are expecting 20 more applica-tions.

Newsletter - Mary

Minutes need to be to Mike at GOAL asap

GOAL – Jon Green

The Speaker’s report on gun violence was such a letdown. Speaker’s commit-tee to reduce gun violence again blames responsible licensed gun owners. Just hours ago, the complete rebuttal to the Speaker’s report has been put on the GOAL website and Face Book page.

Please contact your State Representa-tives and Senators – have them refer to the GOAL reports regarding the Speak-er’s Report.

Upcoming events

Annual meeting at the Big E will be on February 22nd. There will be a break-

Club News: Worcester Pistol & Rifle

WORCESTER PISTOL & RIFLE CLUB, INC.

General Meeting

February 6, 2014

President Al Bonofiglio opened the meeting at 7:00 pm

Guests:

One guest was in attendance.

Fallen Members:

No fallen Members reported

Reports:

Secretary – Ann Kerouac: Ann read the January 22nd E-Board minutes

Treasurer’s Report – Mike Swett: Mike presented an accounting of the Club’s current funds.

Executive Officer Report

Calendar Events: Current 2014 cal-endars are posted at the club through May. The full year on-line version is posted. Please remember to check the on-line version for updates. We will be adding additional training events through the year. Please review the calendar and contact Bill Hardell with any changes and or corrections. If you have a request to schedule event please see Bill.

February Schedule

GOAL NRA Basic Pistol: Tuesday 02/04/14 and Tuesday 02/25/14, IR 1300 – 1600

HFS: Sunday, 02/23/14, 1300, (Meeting Room)

March Schedule

IDPA Practice on 03/02//14 @ 1700 IDPA Match: 03/08/14 @ 0800

Pistol Team: Every Monday, IR 1800 – 2200

General Meeting: Thursday, 03/06/14, MR @ 1900

GOAL NRA Basic Pistol: Tuesday 03/11/14 and Tuesday 03/25/14, IR 1300 – 1600

Work Party Sunday 03/09/14 @ 0800

RSO Course: Saturday & Sunday, 03/15/14 and 03/16/14, 0900 – 1300 (Meeting Room)

HFS: Sunday, 03/23/14, 1300, (Meeting Room)

Reminder: All training events have to be scheduled. Members wishing to conduct a training event must coordi-nate with the XO. Any non-standard training must have E-Board approval.

Please remember to contact Bill Hard-ell for any additions or deletions to the calendar. You can use the link from the club website under the “Club Officers” tab. Any additions / corrections need to be made two weeks out so we can get them posted on-line.

Indoor / Outdoor Ranges:

Mike Henry: The next Work Party is scheduled for 02/09/14. The March Work Party is on 03/09/13. Remember,

fast buffet. Please come in and let us know how you feel about the direction GOAL

Women’s Self Defense Class, taught by WPRC member and GOAL Board of Director Mike Anthony will be held on March 20th at GOAL’s Headquarters in Northborough.

Howie Carr will hold an event in Marl-boro on March 22nd

Gun Law for Citizens will be held here in our Club on from 6-9 pm on May 17th. GOAL will also hold another Handgun Fundamentals review class. Both these classes are free for WPRC Members.

Worcester County League – Dave Morin

George Peterson, Grafton State Rep-resentative is retiring – we are losing a great supporter. Senator Steve Brewer, from Barre, is also retiring. The Rep-resentative Ann Gobi from Spencer is looking to take Steve Brewer’s seat.

Last meeting was held at the Singletary Rod and Gun Club on January 17th. Twenty-three clubs were represented. The Guest Speaker was Herb Berquist, Chairman of the Committee for Re-sponsible Wildlife Management. He gave an extensive presentation of Mass House Bill 750: An Act Conserving our Natural Resources, which was filed by Representative Stephen Kulik from Worthington, MA. There is a need to bring back legal trapping season to control increasing population of coy-otes, beavers, muskrats.

The seven member Fish & Wildlife Board met and new Regulations for baitfish have been implemented and should be on the Fish & Wildlife web-site soon. Will eliminate commercial baitfish sales – you can trap for your-self, but cannot sell them. The Board also will start process to identify and try to protect open land.

The League will man a booth and ar-chery range for youths at the DCU Fish and Outdoor Show February 6th through the 9th.

DCR is going to change the regulation proposals it had planned to make. Will be working with GOAL to make appro-priate regulation changes.

Ware River Committee, with John Root as Chair, discussed continuation of log-ging operations, unlawful use of ATVs and problems with beavers.

The League Banquet will be held at the Wachusett Country Club on March 29th. Tables can be reserved for $245.00. Ann moved that WPRC re-serve one table at the cost of $245.00. Motion was seconded and approved unanimously. There will also be a raf-fle at the Banquet – tickets are $5.00 for one ticket or $20.00 for five tickets. See Dave after the meeting or contact him at 508-450-4416.

Junior Conservation camp will be held this August. The League is sponsoring the tuition for two campers again this year.

WPRC is allowed four delegates to the

League. We currently have two and would like two more members to vol-unteer. Volunteers will please see Dave Morin after the meeting.

Next meeting will be held at the Mas-penock Rod and Gun Club in Milford on February 21st

Mike, the Raffle Guy – Mike Burch-man

Mike explained the Monthly and the Big Spring Raffles

IDPA – Bill Thorpe

January match had to be cancelled due to ice and snow. They had a good prac-tice Sunday. Next match will be held this Saturday.

Question from member – is there a flashlight rule change? IDPA has a whole new rulebook and yes, there was a change to the flashlight rule.

OLD BUSINESS – none

NEW BUSINESS

“Extraordinary Act of Kindness” - Member wanted to thank Dee Dee for the goodwill she showed him recently. He was here with his ‘Little Brother’ and had forgotten ammo. DeeDee gave him some and he was able to enjoy the outing.

Question from Member – Will WPRC ever make steel targets available to members?

Al – the E-Board is looking into this possibility. He has just recently met with Justin Gabriel from The Gun Par-lor, who may sponsor some steel targets at the Club. We need to check with an attorney regarding liability.

Mike Swett – WPRC Stock Certificates are available for sale at $1.00 without frame and $5.00 with a frame.

Safety – Tom LaRoche

If you wear a lanyard, be sure that it has a ‘break-away’ feature so that you can’t be strangled by it. Mike Burchman of-fered to purchase WPRC lanyards to sell at meetings.

Next E-Board meeting February 19, 2014

Next General meeting March 6, 2014

Meeting adjourned at 7:50 pm

February 2014 GOAL News Print Edition 21

GOAL News - Print Edition

Die (made by Lee) - should be used to flare the case mouth.

The Lee Universal Case Expanding Die is equipped with two cone-shaped in-serts that allow the die to flare the case mouths of any caliber from .22 to .45. This die only flares the case mouth – it does not have an expander mandrel.

In some instances, you may be able to simply use the Universal Expander Die in place of the expander die that came with your set. Before doing this, you should run some test rounds and gage them to ensure that they’ll chamber in your pistol. On thicker-than-normal brass, the extra force required to seat a bullet in a flared but not expanded case can cause the case to bulge during seat-ing.

Some reloaders attempt to eliminate setback by applying additional taper crimp. While over-crimping may alle-viate setback, it can cause other serious problems including case bulging and headspace problems.

Your pistol is causing it

When your pistol’s slide moves forward to chamber a round, the nose of the bullet strikes the feed ramp on the bar-rel. This is when setback occurs. If your cartridges “pass” the bench test but ex-perience setback when chambered, it’s possible that your pistol is a contribut-ing factor. A rough finish or improper angle on the feed ramp can contribute to (or even be the main cause of) set-back. A good way to determine if your pistol is the culprit is to check for set-back with factory ammo in your hand-gun, and also to retest your rounds in another pistol (or pistols) of the same caliber. If the setback goes away when you try your rounds in another hand-gun, or if you see setback with factory ammo, then your pistol is a likely cause. You should have it inspected by a quali-fied gunsmith.

Your dies are out of spec

This is an unlikely cause, but if you are using a set of dies for the first time, and your cartridges fail the bench test, it’s worth spending a few minutes to check the dies (I‘ve ended up with three sets that were out of spec in the last ten years). Run a case through the sizing die and measure the inside diameter. It should be no larger than 0.002” under the bullet diameter. In other words, if you’re loading .45 ACP with a 0.451” diameter bullet, the inside diameter of the case should measure no larger than 0.449”. Next, run a sized case through your expander die and measure the in-side diameter. Again, the ID should be

no larger than 0.002” under the bullet diameter. If the dies are out of spec, there’s no easy way to fix them. Contact the manufacturer for a replacement.

Your bullets are undersized

This is another unlikely cause, but it can happen. Measure the diameter of a sample of your bullets and ensure that they’re in spec. If you’re using plated bullets, or jacketed or cast lead bullets from a questionable source, the bullets themselves could be too small.

Factory Ammo

So, how do the ammo manufacturers prevent setback? One way that man-ufacturers prevent setback is to load over a powder charge that completely fills the case (or even over a slightly compressed powder charge). By doing this, the powder itself acts as a stop to prevent the bullet from setting back. Reloaders can do this too with careful powder selection.

Also, if you look at sides of the cases for some “personal defense” ammo, you’ll notice a feature on the case that looks something like a cannelure. This indentation is formed into the case at a point level with the bottom of the seated bullet; its purpose being to act as a mechanical ‘stop’ to prevent the bul-let from setting back during repeated chamberings. This feature requires an extra manufacturing step, and is not

usually found on bulk-pack “practice” ammo. It’s one of the reasons why self defense ammo tends to be more expen-sive than plinking ammo.

Unfortunately, there are no tools read-ily available for reloaders to duplicate this feature.

Reloading Bench Continued from page 22

Lee Universal Case Expanding Die

Some factory ammo features an external crimp on the case to prevent setback

Jim Finnerty is an NRA-Certified Me-tallic Cartridge Reloading instructor. Jim teaches several different reloading classes at GOAL, as well as at gun shops and clubs around the area. For more in-formation, please visit Jim’s website at www.MassReloading.com

GOAL News Print Edition February 201422

Reloading Bench By: Jim Finnerty

Bullet Setback

Firmly pressing a reloaded cartridge into the bench and then measuring the C.O.A.L is a

good first test for setback

These cutaway .45 ACP cases show that the case is expanded deeper than necessary for

the 185gr bullet on the right.

The working parts of the expander die

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Continued page 21

Bullet setback is an undesirable condi-tion where mechanical forces acting on a loaded cartridge cause the bullet to be pressed back into the case; reducing the cartridge overall length (C.O.A.L.). Setback is most likely to occur when the bullet nose of a semi-auto pistol round strikes the barrel feed ramp while the cartridge is being chambered. The problem is compounded (especially with self defense ‘carry’ ammo) when the same round is chambered and re-chambered multiple times as your pis-tol is loaded and unloaded.

Setback is undesirable because it causes a reduction in the available internal case volume, which results in higher-than-normal pressure when the round is fired. In extreme cases, a setback-induced pressure spike can exceed the safe limits for the cartridge. This is of particular concern with ‘defensive’ pis-tol calibers that push the pressure enve-lope, such as the .40 S&W.

This article describes some of the causes of setback, as well as ways to de-tect and avoid the problem.

is placed at the bottom of the maga-zine. Others simply keep their carry gun loaded.

Possible Causes

There are several possible causes for setback. These should be checked and if necessary corrected. I’m going to list them in order of likelihood.

Sizing Die is not set low enough

Most rimless pistol cases are tapered - some (like the 9mm) more than others. Many sizing dies are also tapered, and will properly size only when the case is fully inserted into the die. If you leave too large of a gap between the shell-holder and die, your cases will be in-sufficiently sized, and prone to setback. Even a 1/16th” gap between the shell-holder and die can result in setback for a rimless straight-walled pistol caliber.

If you’re using steel pistol dies (less common), ensure that the shellholder ‘cams over’ slightly when the ram is raised all the way up. If you’re using a carbide sizing die (more common), en-sure that there’s a minimum amount of space between the shellholder and die when the ram is fully raised. The exact setup procedure for your dies can be found in the manufacturer’s instruc-tions.

Your expander die is optimized for a different bullet

The expander die in a three or four die pistol set performs two functions: It flares the mouth of the case to make it possible to seat a bullet, and it expands the inside diameter of the top portion of the case to the proper size for the bullet. Some progressive presses (Dil-lon for example) use a powder-through expander at the bottom of the powder measure instead of an expander die to perform these same tasks. It’s the sec-ond function (expansion) that can be troublesome with regards to setback.

Many reloaders are under the mis-taken impression that all reloading die manufacturers adhere to some sort of standard, and that all dies are the same regardless of manufacturer. This is not true. Take expander dies for example (see Figure 2). These dies feature a mandrel that expands the inside diam-eter of the case, and an angled flaring shoulder that bells the case mouth.

The diameter of the mandrel varies slightly from manufacturer-to-manu-facturer, as does the length of the man-drel, and the amount of taper at the end of the mandrel. The length and taper of the mandrel determine how much of the top of the case is expand-ed, while the diameter sets the amount of expansion.

In order to properly bell the case mouth, the mandrel must be inserted into the case, all the way up to the flaring shoul-der. The length of the expander man-drel determines how much of the case is expanded, and it varies depending on who made the dies. Many of the ex-pander mandrels’ lengths correspond to the ‘normal’ bullet for a particular caliber. Hornady dies in particular tend to have longer mandrels than oth-er manufacturers.

The potential for setback increases

when you load a bullet that is signifi-cantly shorter than the bullet for which the expander die was designed. Fig-ure 3 shows cutaways of three .45 ACP cases – the case on the left shows a 230gr FMJ bullet seated to the proper depth, the case in the center shows the expander mandrel fully inserted, and the case on the right shows a proper-ly seated 185gr JHP bullet. The line across the three cases shows the depth to which the expander mandrel was inserted. You can clearly see that the while the expander depth is ideal for the 230gr bullet, it reaches deeper into the case than is necessary for the 185gr bullet, making setback very likely when using this bullet.

There are a couple of ways to fix this problem - neither of which is very simple. One way is to purchase addi-tional expander die mandrels and have them machined to optimize them for a shorter bullet. This is an option for dies made with removable mandrels (RCBS, Lee, Lyman) but will not work with the expander dies made by Hornady which do not have a removable mandrel.

Another way is to back out the expand-er die so that the mandrel enters the case only to a depth equal to the seating depth of the bullet. This will leave the case mouth unflared, so an additional die - called a Universal Case Expanding

Detecting Setback

One check you should be doing as part of your normal reloading process is something popularly called the “bench test” or “press test”. It’s very simple: During setup, measure the overall length of one of your freshly loaded rounds, put your thumb on the case head and firmly press the nose of the bullet into your bench, then re-mea-sure the round. If the second measure-ment is shorter than the first, then your rounds are prone to setback.

The ultimate test for setback is to chamber a round in your pistol several times, checking the C.O.A.L. after each chambering. It is best to use a “dum-my” round (no powder and primer) for this test. If you wish to use a live round, do it safely at the range.

A few thousandths of an inch of set-back is normal, however, if the bullet sets back 0.010” or so all at once, you have a problem that probably needs correcting. If the setback progressively increases by a few thousandths of an inch each time you chamber the round, and you intend to use the ammo in your carry gun, you should take steps to avoid rechambering the same round multiple times. Some shooters “rotate” their ammo: Each time the pistol is unloaded, the magazine is unloaded as well, and the round from the chamber

February 2014 GOAL News Print Edition 23

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