Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll just dropped nearly $344,000 in taxpayer-funded grants to spruce up over 191 acres of critical wildlife habitats through MassWildlife’s Habitat Management Grant Program. The lucky recipients? A who’s who of environmental outfits like the Alford Land Trust, Trustees of Reservations, Buzzards Bay Coalition, Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Nantucket Island Land Bank, and Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation. On the surface, it’s all about restoring meadows, wetlands, and forests for birds, bees, and bunnies—noble stuff if you’re into that. But peel back the greenwashed layers, and this smells like another salvo in the Healey administration’s war on rural access and Second Amendment freedoms.

Healey, the gun-grabber extraordinaire behind Massachusetts’ draconian assault weapons bans and red flag laws, isn’t just playing eco-warrior; she’s strategically seeding public and quasi-public lands with anti-hunting allies. These land trusts and coalitions often push for no-shoot zones, trail restrictions, and expanded wilderness designations that chip away at hunting grounds and shooting ranges. Remember, MassWildlife itself enforces the state’s suffocating firearm regs, from magazine limits to carry permit nightmares. Pouring cash into habitat restoration on these properties could mean more acres locked down from lead shot (despite non-toxic alternatives), target practice, or even casual plinking—directly squeezing the 2A community’s lifeblood: accessible public lands for training, hunting, and self-defense prep. It’s not coincidence; it’s consolidation. Healey’s crew knows hunters and shooters are the real stewards of wildlife, culling overpopulated deer herds and funding conservation via Pittman-Robertson excise taxes—yet here they are, bypassing us to empower no-growth NGOs.

For the 2A faithful in the Bay State, this is a wake-up call: track these grants, flood the recipients with questions about hunting access and range compatibility, and rally at the State House. Implications? Expect habitat protection to morph into firearm-free buffers, eroding your rights one restored acre at a time. Pro-2A warriors, arm yourselves with FOIAs and get vocal—before Healey’s green agenda turns the Commonwealth’s backwoods into a no-go zone for lead-slingers. Stay vigilant; our hunting heritage hangs in the balance.