House Will Soon Vote On 'Red Flag' Gun Bill, Says Speaker DeLeo

The Massachusetts House this month will take up "red flag" legislation aimed at preventing gun violence, Speaker Robert DeLeo said Wednesday.

Originally filed by Cambridge Rep. Marjorie Decker, the bill has been pushed by students, police chiefs and others in the weeks since the February school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

"Because of your voice, that is why we are here today," DeLeo told students outside Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, where he announced the House would move forward with the bill.

He said Decker’s bill (H 3610) — which would allow a family member, roommate or law enforcement official to petition the court to bar someone from owning a firearm if their gun ownership presents a "significant danger" of injury — is "about protecting those in crisis and the most vulnerable among us."

Gun rights advocates have said the measure would unfairly put the burden on gun owners to defend their constitutional right to own a firearm.

"Gun prohibitionists rejoicing over their efforts to drag gun owners into court with no due process, strip their rights, then send them home. Selling this as a means of helping people with mental health issues is a travesty, selling it as "crime prevention" is a flat out lie," the Gun Owners Action League tweeted following DeLeo's announcement.