Category: A Victory!

Michigan and Hawaii, both Democrat-led states, have launched taxpayer-funded tip lines for individuals looking to report perceived firearms violations anonymously. While these dumpster fire states claim the lines are aimed at lawbreakers, Second Amendment groups are reasonably skeptical, as they should be, because such a system can easily be abused. Let’s face it, we know that the weaponization of this service against law-abiding gun owners is exactly what they are intended for.

On Thursday, October 10, Hawaii’s Democrat Governor Josh Green announced the state’s Department of Law Enforcement had established a confidential “Gun Tip Line for people to make anonymous reports of illegal gun ownership and gun crimes,” where tipsters can either call, text or drop a dime via the DLE’s website or a downloadable app where they can submit photographs and videos to back up their report.

The governor’s office went even further during the brown shirt recruiting exercise saying, “People reporting tips are encouraged to leave detailed information including the names of those in possession of illegal guns or committing gun crimes, a location where those people may be found and a description of the guns.” Sure, what could go wrong when hiring unpaid, untrained, overzealous, anti-Second Amendment sycophants typically knowing very little about firearms to play the role of a detective, spying on and recording their neighbors?

Meanwhile, Gretchen “Lockdown” Whitmer, known for hosting the most oppressive COVID lockdowns in America while still having more deaths per capita than any neighboring Midwestern states, signed House Bill 5503, a measure passed off as an education funding bill that allocates $1 million in School Aid Funding to support an anonymous tip line for students to report firearms thought to be “improperly stored.”

The bill goes on to mandate that Michigan’s Department of Education develop materials concerning improper storage of firearms, including tip line usage, and distribute those materials to school districts across the state. The Gestapo may not pay you for your work, but you will receive free training, whether you want it or not.

As the NRA-ILA points out, language regarding the tip line was added to the bill as an amendment that was then swiftly passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature.

“The expedited pace and the silencing of opposition when the bill came up for a floor vote underscores the reality that this was a political move and another attack on gun owners,” says the NRA.

These tiplines will ultimately create a situation that will lead to wasted resources, unwarranted confrontations with law enforcement and what could amount to unconstitutional searches of homes, businesses and other private property based on vendettas and other nefarious agendas. Not only does this negatively impact the community’s relationship with authorities, but those who abuse the tip lines will undoubtedly drive wedges within communities as well, drawing lines at a time when we need to be working together to strengthen and solidify those connections.

When Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed an emergency enactment of the state’s new gun control law, she was trying to head off a petition drive that would have derailed the new restrictions at least until  2026, according to a report at Mass.live.

The result, however, according to Jim Wallace, executive director of the Massachusetts Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) has been “chaos.” He accused the governor of “once again silencing the voice of the people” by essentially heading off the petition campaign, mounted by a licensed firearms dealer and conducted by a small army of volunteers, which needed to gather at least 49,716 valid signatures from registered voters to put the new law on hold until it could be placed on the 2026 ballot, according to the Associated Press.

As explained by the AP story, Healey’s emergency enactment “cracks down on privately made, unserialized ‘ghost guns, criminalizes possession of bump stocks and trigger cranks and requires applicants for a gun license to complete live-fire training.” It also expands the state’s “red flag” law—also known as the extreme risk protective order (ERPO) law—authorizing people other than family members, such as health care professionals, to seek court intervention if someone is deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.

The AP report also acknowledged, “The action by Healey frustrates efforts by gun rights activists who had hoped to gather enough signatures to suspend the law before it took effect.”

GOAL has already filed a federal challenge to the licensing and training mandates. Wallace predicted it will take multiple legal actions, each challenging different sections of the law, to correct what he called an “insane” situation. He also predicted that if the law actually goes on the 2026 ballot, “the other side will spend millions to defeat us.”

Interestingly, the way Mass.Live writer John Micek portrays the fight is a “culture war battle” which many may have thought could not happen in such a politically “deep blue” state. Well, surprise, there are tens of thousands of angry, frustrated gun owners in the Bay State.

Indeed, there is much irony in the fact that the Revolutionary War began in Massachusetts with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775 over an attempt by the British to seize arms and munitions belonging to the militia.

According to Masslive.com, as of July there were 568,251 active firearms licenses in the Commonwealth, per data compiled by the Firearms Record Bureau. A number that large hints at the potential voter turnout if this measure winds up on a ballot.

In a message posted on the GOAL website, Wallace asserted that Healey, by signing H.4885 into law (Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024), kept the final language of the bill secret “until the night before the legislature voted on it.” He called it “the worst attack on civil rights in modern U.S. history.”

He is hopeful the federal complaint already filed by GOAL will be taken up “immediately” and will result in an injunction against the law’s enforcement.

How this may play into the November election hasn’t been discussed, but it is clear to GOAL’s Wallace that Massachusetts gun owners are in a prickly mood.

“Massachusetts residents have no idea what to do,” he said. As things stand right now, “nonresidents cannot bring in any gun, period.” That’s not good news as the hunting season is getting underway. The commander of the State Police needs to approve a roster of acceptable firearms, he explained.

On top of everything else, Wallace said ammunition sales must also be recorded.

“It’s insane,” he lamented. “Right now, nonresidents are in danger. If they come into the state with a gun to hunt or compete, they’re a felon.”

If additional lawsuits are filed, it could bog things down if a court decides to issue an injunction against all or parts of the law.

Wallace calls the new law a “tantrum” against the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen in June 2022. That decision, adopted 6-3 and written by Justice Clarence Thomas, was viewed as a landmark change for the way lower courts and state and local governments must address Second Amendment issues. The ruling will have long-term effects on new and existing gun control laws, many of which are being challenged already by gun rights organizations such as GOAL, the Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, California Rifle & Pistol Association, Firearms Policy Coalition and others.

About Dave Workman