Prohibits recording of the entrance of a school ground

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Leroy Comrie and 3 co-sponsors

MA S.1694 removes the 2024 Act ban on barrel shrouds that shield heat, ending their status as prohibited devices and letting owners, makers, and sellers use them.

REFERRED TO CODES

Summary — S.1694 (Senate, 194th General Court, MA)

Title: An Act removing certain civil rights restrictions
Primary sponsor: Senator Ryan C. Fattman (Worcester and Hampden)
Filed: Jan 17, 2025; Introduced in Senate/Read twice & referred May 8, 2025
Current status (from provided materials): Passed Senate (June 10, 2025); delivered to House/Assembly; referred to Codes / Public Safety committee; hearings scheduled Oct 31, 2025.

Main purpose

S.1694 amends Massachusetts state law (Section 16 of Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024) to remove language that restricted a particular firearm accessory — a "shroud that encircles either all or part of the barrel designed to shield the bearer’s hand from heat." In short, the bill would eliminate statutory text that treated such barrel shrouds as a disallowed device under the 2024 Act.

Key provisions / textual change

Strikes the clause in subsection (a) of Section 16 (Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024) that prohibited:
"; or (v) a shroud that encircles either all or part of the barrel designed to shield the bearer’s hand from heat, excluding a slide that encloses the barrel"

Makes the same deletion in subsection (b) of Section 16.

No other changes to the 2024 Act are specified in the text provided.

By removing those phrases the statute would no longer single out barrel shrouds of the described type as prohibited devices in the referenced subsections.

Who would be affected

Firearm owners (who may legally possess or install barrel shrouds that were previously restricted under the 2024 provision).

Firearm manufacturers, importers, and retailers (manufacture, sale, or distribution of these shrouds in Massachusetts).

Law enforcement and prosecutors (changes enforcement scope and charging options under the amended statutory sections).

Courts adjudicating violations under the amended provisions.

Procedural / timeline notes

Bill introduced and carried through several committee and floor steps in 2025: referred to Public Safety & Homeland Security and to Codes; advanced and amended on third reading (1694A); passed the Senate on June 10, 2025; delivered to the Assembly and referred to Codes. Hearings were scheduled for Oct 31, 2025 (Gardner Auditorium and virtual).

Materials supplied include extraneous artifacts (binary/PDF fragments and mixed sponsor listings). This summary is based on the enacted bill text excerpt identifying the specific deletions to Section 16 of Chapter 135 of the Acts of 2024 and the procedural history provided.

Potential implications / considerations

Legal: narrows the category of accessories treated as prohibited under the 2024 Act, potentially reducing criminal exposure for owners/handlers of the described barrel shrouds.

Public safety/policy: supporters may argue it restores lawful accessory choices; opponents may raise safety or enforcement concerns if the removed language was intended to limit devices associated with certain firearm configurations.

Administrative: law enforcement training, statutory interpretation, and vendor compliance guidance would need updating to reflect the deletion if enacted.

If you want, I can: (a) show the exact before-and-after statutory wording, (b) summarize any legislative debate or testimony from the scheduled hearings, or (c) map how this change would interact with parallel state or federal firearms restrictions.