From the Boston Herald:

Bay State gun shops operate under some of the strictest laws in the nation when it comes to providing firepower to the public.

Federal investigators said that in the case of Tarek Mehanna, the inability to get an assault rifle likely jammed his alleged plot to pull off a shopping mall massacre somewhere in Massachusetts….

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UPDATE:

More on Mehanna from the Chrstian Science Monitor here:

…Late 2003 – Discussion of the mall attack plan continues, including types of weapons needed, number of attackers involved, and coordinating the attack across different entrances. Attacking emergency responders is debated. CW2 travels to New Hampshire to meet with Maldonado, a former gang member, who is believed to have access to automatic weapons. But Maldonado says all he can get is handguns. Lacking firepower, the plan is abandoned….

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And from the Boston Globe:

…The [FBI] affidavit says that [alleged coconspirator Ahmad] Abousamra, Mehanna, and the cooperating witness plotted in 2003 to randomly execute shoppers and emergency responders at a mall, but that they scrapped the plan when they were unable to obtain automatic weapons….

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