Massachusetts Hunters Question Healey’s Sudden Interest in Hunting

Suddenly, Governor Maura Healey, no friend to the Massachusetts gun-toting crowd, is all about hunting. Healey plans to file legislation to expand hunting by addressing "outdated hunting laws," including the centuries-old ban on Sunday hunting.

READ MORE: Massachusetts Ban on Sunday Hunting Continues

Massachusetts and Maine are the only two states that ban Sunday hunting of any kind.

The skeptic in me suspects Healey's polling numbers in an election year indicate she needs to find ways to win friends and influence people. Boston Herald columnist Joe Battenfeld agrees.

Columnist Calls Move Political Pandering

"Maura Healey, posing with a powerful weapon in her hands, joins a long list of pols whose political pandering to hunters and gun owners could end up backfiring," Battenfeld wrote.

Gun Rights Groups Previously Criticized Healey

About a year and a half ago, the NRA's Mark Chestnut took Healey to task for signing a gun bill into law that would "negatively impact hunters."

"A sweeping anti-gun measure signed into law by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on July 25 (2024) will not only have devastating effects on gun owners in the commonwealth, but will also infringe on the rights of hunters," Chestnut wrote.

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"According to the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, the 116-page anti-gun measure is one of the most extreme gun control bills in the country," he wrote.

Lakeville Gun Shop Owner Pushes Back

Bill Bachant of Bachant Armament Corp. in Lakeville isn't buying what Healey is selling.

"I'm sure her spin doctor has been telling her 'the heat is on' from the sportsmen over Chapter 135 (Healey's latest gun law that faces a repeal effort on this fall's ballot), and she thinks this is a good way to appease them," he said.