Healey gets gun owners group's backing
Scores 95% on queries seeking nod on agenda
By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | October 17, 2006
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, who has touted crime fighting in her run for governor, has been endorsed by the state's top gun owners group after she scored 95 percent on a questionnaire that asks candidates if they agree with the organization's agenda to weaken state gun-control laws.
Healey, the Republican nominee for governor, refused a Globe request for her answers to the questions by the Gun Owners Action League. The group, which also refused to release her answers, said its rating shows Healey ``expressed strong support for gun rights."
The league's questionnaire asks candidates if they support or oppose creating a system for ballistic fingerprinting, easing restrictions on granting firearm licenses to those with police records, and curbing the power of local police chiefs to deny permits to carry guns.
One of the questions, asking whether any gun should be banned, relates to whether there should be a ban on assault weapons and high-powered handguns that fire rounds police say can pierce bulletproof vests worn by officers.
Healey's campaign insisted that she supports the state's current gun-control laws, including the ban on assault weapons.
``Responsible gun owners have rights and deserve legal protections under the law," said press aide Laura Nicoll. ``Massachusetts has appropriate laws in place to protect public safety without infringing on the legal rights of gun owners."
An Oct. 7 letter from Healey, posted on the league's website, focuses on the interests of sportsmen, not on crime. ``I come from a hunting and fishing family, and, as governor, I will remain committed to maintaining that tradition and protecting the interests of sportsmen," she wrote.
Some crime specialists and prosecutors say that parts of the league's agenda would undercut crime fighting.
Paul Birks -- vice president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers which has endorsed Democrat Deval Patrick -- said his Boston-based, nationwide union respects the right of gun ownership, but said there are ``common-sense limits."
``Sportsmen don't hunt game with assault rifles that spray-fire armor-piercing bullets," Birks said. ``It's that simple. I don't know how any law enforcement officer could support a candidate who, like Kerry Healey, accepts the endorsement of a gun group that doesn't recognize the need for some common-sense limits."
A criminologist said the group's agenda would deny law enforcement the tools to battle crime and put too many dangerous guns on the street.
``She is clearly not supportive of law-and-order measures that would assist law enforcement in its crime-fighting efforts," Jack Levin, a Northeastern University professor of criminology and director of the school's Brudnick Center on Conflict and Violence, said after reviewing GOAL's questionnaire.
Earlier this month, Healey received the endorsement of the State Police Association of Massachusetts. She points to her work at the State House on toughening drunk-driving and sex-offender laws as part of her anticrime record during her four years as lieutenant governor.
Patrick did not respond to the GOAL questionnaire. Independent candidate Christy Mihos, like Healey, scored 95 percent in his answer to the group, but was passed over for the endorsement. His only mistake, which cost him five percentage points, was to express support for laws requiring licenses to carrying firearms, even if it were just for possession at home or at a place of business.
The league blames political leaders for high crime rates and said that the 1998 gun law banning assault weapons and placing other restrictions on firearms ownership have resulted in more crime.
It advocates removing many of the restrictions on gun ownership, saying the limits would deprive citizens of their constitutional rights and right of self-protection. They also lobby strongly for the interest of hunters.
Levin said that gun control, particularly relating to handguns, is a central piece in the battle against crime.
``Notwithstanding the recent rise in gun-related homicides locally, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts continues to have a relatively low rate of murder, thanks in part to the fact that so few residents own or carry firearms," Levin said in an e-mail.
Healey sided with the league when it sought to soften current restrictions on people with police records who seek gun licenses. Governor Mitt Romney and Healey filed a bill in 2005 that make it easier for applicants with police records to appeal decisions by the state Firearms License Examiners Board. Levin said the changes would open the door for ``larger numbers" of those with police records to get gun permits.
Another crime-control proposal on the questionnaire that the league opposes is ballistic fingerprinting, a system that would create a database of evidence to track firearms used in crimes.
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