BOSTON — The state's highest court retreated on Tuesday from its long-held stance that a Massachusetts statute banning civilian possession of stun guns is not unconstitutional, marking a rare win for the commonwealth's right-to-bear-arms activists.
Tuesday's decision reflects a March 2016 United States Supreme Court ruling stemming from an appeal filed by a Massachusetts woman named Jaime Caetano, who was charged with a crime by the state after she used a stun gun to ward off an attack from an ex-boyfriend. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in his concurring opinion noted that "Caetano's mere possession of the stun gun that may have saved her life made her a criminal" in Massachusetts.
A bill that would create a "Gender X" option for driver's licenses and birth certificates in Massachusetts is scheduled to get a hearing before a legislative committee on Beacon Hill on Thursday.
Parents would get to choose "X" for sex rather than male or female for their babies' birth certificates, or they could request a change for their minor children later in life. Adults 18 and older could make the request themselves, without needing documentation to do it.
