A gun-rights organization says it got documents but no answers from the Massachusetts Attorney General. Now it wants the Secretary of State to help.
The Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts, the state’s leading pro-Second Amendment organization, is continuing its fight against a so-called “copycat” assault weapon ban enacted last summer by Attorney General Maura Healey, and has appealed to Secretary of State William Galvin to force Healey’s office to fork over records its members claim will shed light on how and why Healey arrived at her decision.
The organization, which originally sought records from Healey’s office via a Freedom of Information Act request on August 16, claimed in its appeal that it has still yet to receive the requested documents.
GOAL’s appeal, drafted by attorney Edward F. George of Woburn, includes a timeline regarding correspondence sent back and forth between GOAL and Healey’s office. According to GOAL, a CD containing 1,048 pages of records — sent by Assistant Attorney General Lorraine Tarrow on December 21 — “contained absolutely no records” relevant to group’s original 10-point request.
“In fact, all 1,048 pages of material provided by the AG contained nothing more than instruction, operating and safety brochures and manuals as are packaged with the firearms described therein, all of which are the semi-automatic type,” George pointed out.
Tarrow claimed three public records exemptions in response, including exemptions related to an ongoing “deliberative process,” an “investigatory exemption,” and a “public safety exemption.”
One area of GOAL’s records request involved asking for any and all correspondence related to Healey’s decision “not to hold a public hearing” ahead of issuing the directive.
GOAL’s 10-point request includes:
Read a full copy of the appeal, including correspondence between Healey’s office and GOAL:
(AP Photo) 
