Advertisement
Commentary
Mass. isn't immune to the gun violence epidemic. We need new gun control legislation now
Gun violence in the United States is an unrelenting crisis.
But this does not have to be our reality — overwhelming evidence clearly shows that strong gun laws can and do prevent gun violence.
In fact, the strength of Massachusetts’ gun laws, and the rate of gun violence that we experience, is a perfect example of that causal relationship: Massachusetts ranks among the states with the strongest gun laws, while experiencing the least amount of gun violence per capita in the entire country.
The commonwealth has a history of prioritizing gun safety in our laws. Our laws in the colonial era, for example, required people to have approval to carry firearms. Not quite 10 years ago, in 2014, the Massachusetts House of Representatives led the effort to pass a law that resulted in background checks for all private gun sales, enhanced regulations around licenses to carry, and restrictions on the ability to purchase a gun for people who suffer from mental illness or who have been convicted of a violent crime.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision last year in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen changed the legal landscape. The decision weakened that 2014 law by limiting the discretion that local police have in denying applications for firearm licenses.
In the wake of that ruling, the Mass. House began a review of Massachusetts’ gun safety laws — a process that included 11 public forums held across the state from the Cape to the Berkshires.
Despite having some of the lowest rates of gun deaths in the country, Massachusetts ... has experienced a substantial increase in gun deaths since 2010.
During those public forums, we heard from moms who hug their children each day before school, terrified that it might be their last chance to embrace their child. We listened to fathers who live in agony because their children lost their lives to gun violence. We heard from one dad, in Lawrence, who obtained a license to carry to learn more about the process after his son was tragically shot and killed. He is now a strong advocate for gun safety and policy change.
Spurred on by these stories, our goal has been simple: to propose, and ultimately codify into law, reforms that will help to meet the challenges brought on by an ever-changing legal and criminal landscape.
Today, the House will hold a public hearing at the State House. We are eager to hear feedback from constituents, elected officials, and experts on the comprehensive gun safety legislation that was filed in the House last week. For those unable to testify at the hearing, we will also be gathering input via email [anactmodernizingfirearmlaws@mahouse.gov] through the rest of the week.
The proposed legislation would accomplish several things if signed into law.
- First, it would improve the process for tracing firearms involved in gun violence by making it easier to report lost or stolen firearms, and ensure that law enforcement professionals share data with each other during an investigation of gun violence. The legislation also includes additional registration and serialization requirements to crack down on the sale of privately made, 3D-printed ghost guns.
- Second, the legislation updates the existing definition of assault weapons (originally written as part of the assault weapon ban in 1994), to include the newer features that make these weapons so lethal today, thus enhancing the existing ban.
- Third, the proposed legislation calls for expanding the list of individuals who can petition a court to remove firearms from anyone who poses a risk of danger to themselves or others. The expanded list of individuals would go beyond household members and the police, to include medical professionals, school administrators, and employers.
- Fourth, the legislation would enhance firearm education and improve compliance with our existing gun laws, by implementing a statewide standard and curriculum, including live firearm training and de-escalation techniques. It would also make the Massachusetts State Police responsible for inspections of firearms dealers. (This provision is especially critical in light of recent reports of deficient oversight of firearms dealers registered in Massachusetts.)
- And fifth, our proposal explicitly prohibits carrying a gun in schools, polling places, government buildings and into any person’s private residence without the express permission of the owner or tenant.
Because of Massachusetts’ relatively low rates of gun violence per capita, some folks may ask why we, and many others, believe that there is an urgent need for additional, substantial reforms to our gun safety laws.
The answer to that question is simple: Relative success is not cause for complacency.
Despite having some of the lowest rates of gun deaths in the country, Massachusetts — consistent with a trend that has plagued the U.S. as a whole — has experienced a substantial increase in gun deaths since 2010. Since July 1 of this year alone, there have been 86 shootings in Massachusetts, resulting in 36 deaths and more than 80 injuries.
Congress, and particularly congressional Republicans, have repeatedly shown an unwillingness to support stricter gun control legislation.
Vulnerable communities are at the center of this crisis. Gun violence in Massachusetts takes the lives of Black children and teens at a rate seven times higher than that of their white peers. For Black people of all ages, the rate is more than 15 times higher than that of white people.
It also costs the state $2 billion a year, which includes an annual tax burden of $92 million for our citizens.
Congress, and particularly congressional Republicans, have repeatedly shown an unwillingness to support stricter gun control legislation. After 20 children were gunned down at Sandy Hook, Republicans in Congress stopped legislation that would have strengthened criminal background checks and banned assault weapons. After 49 lost their lives in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, they blocked four separate gun safety proposals. After 60 people were killed during an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas, they refused to even hold a vote on a federal ban on bump stocks.
The U.S. Supreme Court, too, under the sway of a new conservative majority, has weakened gun safety laws and made it easier for millions of Americans to carry and use guns in public.
We believe the Supreme Court’s recent decision was dangerous, and that we can and must do more in Massachusetts. The people we heard from during our public forums, whose lives have been impacted by gun violence, believe that we must do more.
We intend to push forward for them.
From this country’s inception, and especially during instances of federal inaction, Massachusetts has so often led the United States in pursuit of innovative solutions to some of our most daunting challenges, whether it's health care, public education or climate change.
The Massachusetts House is committed to ensuring this moment will be no different.
