At first glance, Robin Neipp’s recent column “Massachusetts must continue to lead on common sense gun laws” [Recorder, June 9] might sound reasonable until you realize the writer is endorsing a law she clearly hasn’t understood. Chapter 135 spans 116 pages of sweeping new gun laws and mandates that only punish the law-abiding while doing absolutely nothing to stop actual violence or criminals. Criminals will not obey a single sentence of this 116-page law.

The cost of this legislation won’t be measured in words; it will be measured in ruined lives. Chapter 135 isn’t “common sense” — it’s legislative malpractice with real victims.

Chapter 135 isn’t about reducing crime — it’s about persecuting and discriminating against a class of citizens who exercise a specific constitutional right. It punishes lawful citizens and redefines your constitutional rights. It’s politically motivated virtue-signaling at its worst. This law doesn’t target criminals, not at all. Let’s be clear: it targets veterans, sportsmen, seniors, lawful gun owners, urban and low-income residents and out-of-state junior hunters who just want to go hunting in Massachusetts.

The writer quotes firearm death statistics from Everytown for Gun Safety — a partisan lobbying group, not a public health authority — and claims that Massachusetts’ low gun death rate proves its laws are working. But the fact is, our low fatality rate has far more to do with our dense population and access to world-class hospitals. A shooting victim in Boston can be in a trauma center in minutes. In rural Alaska, it may take hours, or days. Comparing the two is not just flawed, it’s propaganda.

And despite our supposedly “model” gun laws, Massachusetts ranks 27th in violent crime nationally.

So, what exactly are these laws accomplishing, besides retro-criminalizing the innocent and the law abiding?

• It bans non-resident junior hunting. How does that reduce violent crime?

• It allows school administrators, who have no medical or psychological qualifications, to initiate Red Flag Orders that can lead to life-long firearm confiscation. That’s like allowing a McDonald’s cashier to perform brain surgery.

• Almost 20,000 lawful FID card holders are now considered felons. Many of the rifles and shotguns they already own must be turned over to the state. They must now obtain a License to Carry to keep them. Many of whom will not qualify or afford it. No grandfather clause. No safe harbor. Just a felony trap.

The law also:

• Creates of a massive online, hackable, database of gun owners, their personal contact info, relationships and every firearm owned.

• Criminalizes technical paperwork violations.

• Requires digital-only compliance, effectively shutting out seniors and low-income residents without computer skills or high-speed internet.

• Regulates chemical defense sprays as firearms.

Cloaked in the language of “safety,” Chapter 135 is the legal embodiment of civil rights violations. It must be repealed!

The tragedy here is not that people like Ms. Neipp, your local state representative and senator believe they are doing good — it’s that they’re blind to the actual harm they are causing. By endorsing policies that treat mental health treatment as a red flag, they are driving our most vulnerable heroes, veterans and law enforcement, away from the help they need to survive.

These men and women witness the most horrifying crime scenes imaginable. When they try to cope responsibly by seeking professional counseling — a step we should encourage — expanding red flag laws now put them at risk of losing their firearms and their careers forever, simply for asking for help.

So, they stay silent. They suffer alone. This fear is pushing them away from treatment, and straight toward tragedy. A society that punishes healing guarantees suffering. In that silence, suicide doesn’t vanish, it grows.

Over the next year and a half, we welcome a real conversation about how to reduce violent crime, one rooted in facts, not fear. Our common goal should be stopping the root causes of violent crime, keeping violent repeat offenders off the streets and investing in bringing prosperity to those trapped in an endless cycle of poverty! Chapter 135 does none of this. It closes no real loopholes. It prevents no tragedies. It solves nothing.

On Nov. 3, 2026, you will have the opportunity to speak for yourself, not through lobbyists, officials or slogans, but through the ballot box. We urge you to reject fear-based politics and reclaim your rights. Stop government overreach into your private lives. Remind Beacon Hill that true public safety is not built on surveillance, suspicion, or suppression … but on justice, truth, equal protection and due process of all people.

For more information visit https://thecivilrightscoalition.com.

John Briare is the spokesman and founding member of The Civil Rights Coalition, the ballot committee that sponsored the ballot question to repeal Chapter 135 in November 2026.