Week In Review: Gun Sellers Sue Attorney General Healey And The SJC's Racial Profiling Ruling

We'll begin today with the gun industry versus Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

Massachusetts guns shops and the firearms industry have filed suit in federal court against Healey, calling her crackdown on so-called "copy cat assault weapons" unconstitutional.

At issue is Healey's enforcement action last July, which expanded the list of prohibited weapons under the state's assault weapons ban.

"The attorney general on her own without any legal authority has decided to reinterpret the definition of what constitutes an assault weapon in Massachusetts," said Larry Keane, vice president and general counsel with the National Shooting and Sports Foundation, which represents the gun industry. "It was not done by the Legislature, and her definition has no basis in the statute and is inconsistent with the legislative history and intent."

Earlier this week on Radio Boston, the attorney general told us her enforcement action is consistent with Massachusetts law, and is aimed at stopping sales of weapons that have been slightly modified in an obvious effort to get around the state ban on assault rifles.

We're also talking about this week's ruling by the highest court in Massachusetts that in some cases, courts cannot use a black man's fleeing from police as a basis for conviction.

John Carroll, communications professor at Boston University and WBUR senior news analyst. He tweets @johncarroll_bu.
Jim Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute. He tweets @jimstergios.