Uncommon Knowledge
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Massachusetts state lawmakers on Wednesday filed joint legislation to amend state gun laws by cracking down on “ghost guns,” expanding the state’s red flag law and limiting dangerous individuals’ access to firearms.
The new bill, a compromise between the pending State House and State Senate bills, is likely to be approved by both chambers in a vote tomorrow. After that, it will appear on Democratic Governor Maura Healy’s desk to be signed into law.
The initial impetus for the legislation was the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, a case that expanded gun rights. The majority ruling in the case stated that both the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a gun for self-defense outside the home.
A joint collaboration between Massachusetts’ House and Senate was led by State Representative Michael Day and State Senator Cynthia Creem.
According to NBC Boston, Day and Creem said in a joint statement that the bill “delivers meaningfully on our promise to align our statutes with the challenges gun violence poses to our communities today and incorporates the perspectives of firearm owners, law enforcement, community leaders and those impacted directly by gun violence.”
AP Photo/Elise Amendola
Newsweek reached out to Day and Creem for comment via email on Wednesday.
The proposed bill is hard on “ghost guns,” which are largely untraceable, privately made firearms from different non-serialized and often mixed and matched parts. These weapons pose a significant safety concern, with nearly 38,000 ghost guns recovered since 2017, although that number is likely an underestimate given their untraceable nature.
A summary of the legislation obtained by NBC shows that the bill would require all firearms to be serialized and would impose new penalties for the possession, creation and transfer of the so-called “ghost guns.”
House Speaker Ronald Marino issued a statement ahead of Thursday’s vote, saying: “While the Commonwealth’s existing gun laws have proven to be effective in preventing gun violence compared to other states, relative success is never a cause for complacency.”
Newsweek reached out to Mariano for comment via email on Wednesday. Newsweek also reached out to Senate President Karen Spilka for comment via email on Wednesday.
Additionally, the bill is set to expand the state’s red flag law by authorizing health care professionals and others to petition a court to suspend an individual’s right to firearm possession.
The legislation also forbids carrying firearms in public spaces like government buildings, polling places and schools, with exemptions for law enforcement members. It would also require people applying for a firearm license to pass a basic safety exam and live fire training.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
A potent frontal system will deliver rain and snow across New England Sunday evening and last through at least Monday morning. With a warm front moving east from the system, Boston will stick to rain through Sunday night, while widespread accumulating snow is expected across Northern New England, prompting winter weather alerts for that region. Folks up north will be forced to break out the shovels and snowblowers for hopefully one last time.
But by the time we start heading out the door on Monday, the rain-snow line will have sunk farther south and bring some snowfall into most of Massachusetts, including Greater Boston, along the Mass Pike, and west through the Berkshires. The South Shore and coast should stick to a light wintry mix or rain.
All in all, it looks like Boston could pick up about an inch of snow, mainly during the predawn hours of Monday. If Boston ends up with an inch, it would be the latest date in the season since 2007. Folks across northern Worcester and Berkshire counties may see 1 or 2 inches, while the jackpot totals for this storm are held to extreme Northern New England. Roads will be wet early Monday, so take it slow during the morning commute.



Scattered snow showers will linger over most of New England on Monday after the bulk of the precipitation moves offshore by late morning, keeping the day pretty unsettled under mostly cloudy skies.

Monday will remain blustery with the storm strengthening as it pulls away from New England. Wind gusts will hover around 20 mph throughout most of the day, not enough for power outage concerns, but enough to feel the wind push through your jacket.

With cold air settling in behind the passing system, Monday’s highs will be held to the 30s across most of New England. But when you pair the breeze with the cold air, most of the day will feel subfreezing, with wind chills in the 20s from sunrise to sunset.


The sun sets at 7 p.m., Monday as our days get longer.
Greater Boston: Rain Sunday evening. Wintry mix and snow showers in the morning. Lingering flurry possible during the day—highs to the low and mid-30s. Breezy.
Central/Western Mass.: Rain Sunday evening. Snow showers in the morning. A coating to an inch is possible. Isolated snow totals to 2 inches in northern Berkshire County. Highs to the mid and upper 30s region-wide. Flurry chance lingers.
Southeastern Mass.: Light rain Sunday evening. Scattered showers on Monday morning. Highs reach the mid to upper 30s. Breezy.
Cape and Islands: Light steady rain Sunday evening. Scattered showers on Monday morning. Highs to the upper 30s with a breeze.

Rhode Island: Rain showers on Sunday night. Scattered showers on Monday morning. Mostly cloudy with a breeze as highs reach the mid-30s.
New Hampshire: Snow Sunday night. Scattered snow showers throughout Monday. Highs to the mid and upper 30s.
Vermont/Maine: Snow on Sunday, scattered snow showers throughout Monday. Highs to the mid and upper 30s.
Connecticut: Steady rain Sunday night, sticking to rain showers Monday morning. Highs to the upper 30s and low 40s.
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Ken Mahan can be reached at ken.mahan@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @kenmahantheweatherman.
Keeping open records in the dark is costing taxpayers in Massachusetts
As Sunshine Week comes to a close this week, government officials across the country will once again talk about transparency and accountability. In Massachusetts, however, a series of recent transparency failures shows just how far we have to go here in the Bay State.
For years, watchdog groups, journalists, and ordinary citizens have warned that Massachusetts has one of the weakest public records systems in the country. Deadlines are ignored. Fees are inflated. Enforcement is weak. And when state or local officials would rather keep information hidden, the burden too often falls on private citizens to drag those records into the light.
This is hardly a partisan critique.
On this point, even groups that rarely agree politically can see the same problem. Journalists have been forced to sue for access. Citizens have waited months or years for information that should have been produced promptly. Transparency should not be a left or right wing issue, it should be the bare minimum in a functioning democracy.
The recent examples are hard to ignore. One police department demanded $1.8 million for license-plate-reader records before that fee was later reduced. In Lexington, a school employee was caught discussing whether production costs could be inflated in hopes that a requester would give up. In Somerville, public officials spent years fighting over parking-permit data.
And then there is the state’s climate litigation against Exxon Mobil.
Massachusetts sued Exxon for allegedly misleading the public about climate change. Whatever one thinks of that lawsuit, the state put honesty, disclosure, and accountability at the center of its case. Yet when Exxon sought records related to Massachusetts’ own climate regulations and enforcement, officials resisted disclosure and triggered a separate legal battle over access to those documents.
What surfaced from that fight was incredibly troubling.
A regulation adopted under Massachusetts climate law requires state agencies with large vehicle fleets to track emissions and submit annual compliance reports. Those reports were supposed to begin in 2019. But according to sworn testimony from state environmental officials, not a single agency has submitted them. None. Regulators also acknowledged they had not conducted inspections or taken enforcement actions to verify compliance.
So, while Massachusetts was accusing Exxon of climate deception, the state was also fighting a records request that exposed its own failure to comply with one of its own climate rules.
That hypocrisy should concern everyone.
These reporting requirements exist to measure whether the state is actually doing what it says it is doing. If agencies are not filing required reports, and regulators are not enforcing the rule, then the public has every right to ask whether Massachusetts is serious about the climate commitments it promotes so aggressively.
Taxpayers also have every right to ask how much public money is being spent to keep that failure hidden.
That was the focus of Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance’s recent letter to Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. According to state spending records, since last April, EEA paid a Boston law firm over $534,000, which includes $417,620 from “Climate Adaptation and Preparedness” funds and over $117,000 from funds labeled as “Environmental Affairs Administration.” When underlying payment records were requested, both DEP and the Comptroller reportedly said they had no responsive records.
Ironically, the money spent defending the state’s failure to comply with open records laws could have gone toward actual climate compliance or easing the burden on ratepayers and taxpayers. Instead, it appears to have been simply wasted on lawyers to allegedly cover up the state’s non-compliance on its own climate mandates.
That concern is even more urgent because the Healey administration recently estimated that their climate agenda could cost an eye-popping $130 billion by 2050, while an independent study by the Fiscal Alliance Foundation estimated the cost to be over $400B for the state. While Massachusetts clearly cannot afford more burdensome regulations that will drive businesses out of the state, if taxpayers are being asked to shoulder massive new climate costs the public should at least be able to trust that the laws already on the books are being followed.
Massachusetts officials are often quick to demand transparency from corporations and the Trump administration. But transparency cannot be a one-way demand.
Our elected leaders at Beacon Hill must hold themselves to the same standard they impose on the public. It is the foundation of public trust and a problem that Massachusetts has ignored for far too long.
Paul Diego Craney is the Executive Director of Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance
Gas prices continue to rise in Massachusetts and commuters are working out ways to cut back on spending.
AAA said that the average price of gasoline in the U.S. is nearing $4 a gallon, up $1.30 since the war in Iran began. The average price in Massachusetts sits at $3.67, up 12 cents from Monday.
“It’s been climbing pretty steadily day after day,” AAA spokesperson Mark Schieldrop said.
Leslie Welch from Framingham said she tries to find a shorter route to work every day to save money.
“Of course, I am worried about them going up; in fact, I am thinking of getting a different vehicle,” Welch said. “It impacts it quite a bit. Trying to think of being able to work from home for a couple of days.”
But some drivers said there is no way for them to cut down on gas.
“Costing more to make deliveries, and I am not making more, so hopefully it will start going down soon,” courier Eric Howland said.
“Yes, I’ve been concerned, it already changes how I spend. I’d say I fill up once every other week,” said John Curtis, who uses diesel fuel. Curtis has been trying to drive even less to save at the pump.
AAA said that commuters should shop around for the lowest price at gas stations and make an effort to head to the lowest in their area.
“The service stations are also feeling the pinch a little bit. They get a lot of heat for raising those prices, but the cost of fuel that they are buying from their suppliers has skyrocketed as well,” Schieldrop said.
WBZ-TV’s Jon Keller spoke with Governor Maura Healey on Friday and asked whether or not the gas tax should be suspended amid the ongoing spike in price.
The governor said, “I just don’t think it’s going to get us very far right now in the overall picture.”
The gas tax in Massachusetts is 24 cents for every gallon. The federal tax is 18 cents per gallon.
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