I still want more details... does anyone know where one could read the acutual proposed law?? Phrases like Make it easier for legal gun owners leave me very concerned as to what they think is easier.
==========================================================
Proposed changes
April 12, 2007
The bill designed to combat illegal gun trafficking would:
Allow judges to consider gun possession when setting bail.
Require the state to create a database to allow gun dealers and law enforcement officials to better track guns bought and sold on the secondary market.
Develop interstate compacts for Massachusetts to better share ballistics and gun registry information.
Ban licensed gun dealers from selling more than 15 weapons to an individual in a single transaction and 15 weapons to an individual in a calendar year.
Close a provision of state law that allows people to keep unlicensed guns in their homes or businesses.
Make it easier for legal gun owners to register guns bought on the secondary market and create penalties for individuals who fail to report a lost or stolen gun.
==========================================================
Officials, others hail new gun bill
Secondary market would be monitored
By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff | April 12, 2007
Law enforcement officials and community leaders yesterday hailed a new proposal to stem the flow of guns to the city's streets.
Legislation filed by state Senator Jarrett Barrios seeks to make it more difficult for gun traffickers to avoid detection by creating a central database tracking guns bought and sold on the secondary market. It will also make it illegal to not report a lost or stolen gun, allow judges to consider illegal gun possession when setting bail, and ban the bulk purchase of firearms.
Barrios and other legislators will release a report on illegal gun trafficking at the State House today, alongside police officials, prosecutors, and community leaders who advocate passage of the legislation.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said the change in the bail law would be especially significant, because judges are now limited to considering primarily whether a defendant is likely to flee.
The new bail language "would make an almost immediate difference out on the streets," Conley said. "People who carry guns are inherently dangerous, and the bail statute should reflect that."
Conley, whose office helped develop the bill, also said that Barrios's plan to target the secondary gun market is crucial, because the current law requiring people to register guns they buy and sell from people other than dealers is not enforced.
If the state does a better job of tracking every time a gun changes hands, it will be far easier for police to solve shootings, Barrios said, especially because the bill will make it illegal to not report a lost or stolen gun. Now, many illegal gun traffickers tell police that guns used in crimes traced to them were lost or stolen, even when they never reported the gun missing. By requiring such traffickers to report guns lost or stolen or to face prison time, authorities will close a loophole that traffickers exploit to sell guns illegally, he said.
"There are a number of laws on the books, but they're not enforced and are difficult to enforce," Conley said.
"Too often it leaves law enforcement in the dark when they're trying to figure out where these illegal guns are coming from and how they [criminals] ended up with them."
Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said Barrios's proposal to bolster law enforcement's ability to track guns bought and sold on the secondary market could improve the department's ability to investigate shootings. Last year, Boston police solved, with the identification of a suspect or an arrest, 38 percent of the 74 homicides and 23 percent of nonfatal shootings or assaults with guns.
"Any additional regulations of the transfer of guns, especially the secondary gun market, would be helpful to us . . . and could create more investigative leads," Davis said.
Only about 5 percent of guns bought and sold on the secondary market are now registered with the state, Barrios said.
The senator said that the mayor and governor's focus on more money for antiviolence programming is important, but that more needs to be done to keep guns out of Massachusetts.
"We need to focus as well on the pipeline of guns into our cities that are getting into the hands of children," Barrios said.
Charles McDonald of the state Executive Office of Public Safety, was noncommittal about his agency's position on the legislation.
"We have not had a chance at the Executive Office of Public Safety to review this final product, but we look forward to working closely with Senator Barrios in the future on this and other issues," McDonald said.
But community leaders interviewed yesterday embraced the proposal.
Lew Finfer -- director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, a federation of six community organizations in cities across the state -- said banning bulk sales of guns is especially important.
The state of Virginia enacted similar legislation, he said, and "it had a big impact on lessening the number of guns in circulation."
"If an 11-year old is walking through a school in Dorchester with a gun, there's way too many guns on the street," he said, referring to the recent arrest of an elementary school student who brought to school a gun he found in a yard.
James Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League, said his organization will fight the legislation despite outreach from Barrios, who has met with his group.
He said he has no problem with some of the bill's provisions, such as requiring gun dealers to do background checks on all employees, but will mobilize his membership to fight other aspects of the legislation.
Wallace said he is especially disturbed by the proposed limit on bulk gun purchases.
"The biggest problem with that is it assumes that the lawful gun owners of this state are the problem," Wallace said. "You're telling me that I cannot be trusted to buy more than one a month."
He said he also will fight any attempt to establish a database to track lawful gun owners "to help ensure the civil rights of our members are protected."
Suzanne Smalley can be reached at [email protected].
==========================================================
Proposed changes
April 12, 2007
The bill designed to combat illegal gun trafficking would:
Allow judges to consider gun possession when setting bail.
Require the state to create a database to allow gun dealers and law enforcement officials to better track guns bought and sold on the secondary market.
Develop interstate compacts for Massachusetts to better share ballistics and gun registry information.
Ban licensed gun dealers from selling more than 15 weapons to an individual in a single transaction and 15 weapons to an individual in a calendar year.
Close a provision of state law that allows people to keep unlicensed guns in their homes or businesses.
Make it easier for legal gun owners to register guns bought on the secondary market and create penalties for individuals who fail to report a lost or stolen gun.
==========================================================
Officials, others hail new gun bill
Secondary market would be monitored
By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff | April 12, 2007
Law enforcement officials and community leaders yesterday hailed a new proposal to stem the flow of guns to the city's streets.
Legislation filed by state Senator Jarrett Barrios seeks to make it more difficult for gun traffickers to avoid detection by creating a central database tracking guns bought and sold on the secondary market. It will also make it illegal to not report a lost or stolen gun, allow judges to consider illegal gun possession when setting bail, and ban the bulk purchase of firearms.
Barrios and other legislators will release a report on illegal gun trafficking at the State House today, alongside police officials, prosecutors, and community leaders who advocate passage of the legislation.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said the change in the bail law would be especially significant, because judges are now limited to considering primarily whether a defendant is likely to flee.
The new bail language "would make an almost immediate difference out on the streets," Conley said. "People who carry guns are inherently dangerous, and the bail statute should reflect that."
Conley, whose office helped develop the bill, also said that Barrios's plan to target the secondary gun market is crucial, because the current law requiring people to register guns they buy and sell from people other than dealers is not enforced.
If the state does a better job of tracking every time a gun changes hands, it will be far easier for police to solve shootings, Barrios said, especially because the bill will make it illegal to not report a lost or stolen gun. Now, many illegal gun traffickers tell police that guns used in crimes traced to them were lost or stolen, even when they never reported the gun missing. By requiring such traffickers to report guns lost or stolen or to face prison time, authorities will close a loophole that traffickers exploit to sell guns illegally, he said.
"There are a number of laws on the books, but they're not enforced and are difficult to enforce," Conley said.
"Too often it leaves law enforcement in the dark when they're trying to figure out where these illegal guns are coming from and how they [criminals] ended up with them."
Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said Barrios's proposal to bolster law enforcement's ability to track guns bought and sold on the secondary market could improve the department's ability to investigate shootings. Last year, Boston police solved, with the identification of a suspect or an arrest, 38 percent of the 74 homicides and 23 percent of nonfatal shootings or assaults with guns.
"Any additional regulations of the transfer of guns, especially the secondary gun market, would be helpful to us . . . and could create more investigative leads," Davis said.
Only about 5 percent of guns bought and sold on the secondary market are now registered with the state, Barrios said.
The senator said that the mayor and governor's focus on more money for antiviolence programming is important, but that more needs to be done to keep guns out of Massachusetts.
"We need to focus as well on the pipeline of guns into our cities that are getting into the hands of children," Barrios said.
Charles McDonald of the state Executive Office of Public Safety, was noncommittal about his agency's position on the legislation.
"We have not had a chance at the Executive Office of Public Safety to review this final product, but we look forward to working closely with Senator Barrios in the future on this and other issues," McDonald said.
But community leaders interviewed yesterday embraced the proposal.
Lew Finfer -- director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, a federation of six community organizations in cities across the state -- said banning bulk sales of guns is especially important.
The state of Virginia enacted similar legislation, he said, and "it had a big impact on lessening the number of guns in circulation."
"If an 11-year old is walking through a school in Dorchester with a gun, there's way too many guns on the street," he said, referring to the recent arrest of an elementary school student who brought to school a gun he found in a yard.
James Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League, said his organization will fight the legislation despite outreach from Barrios, who has met with his group.
He said he has no problem with some of the bill's provisions, such as requiring gun dealers to do background checks on all employees, but will mobilize his membership to fight other aspects of the legislation.
Wallace said he is especially disturbed by the proposed limit on bulk gun purchases.
"The biggest problem with that is it assumes that the lawful gun owners of this state are the problem," Wallace said. "You're telling me that I cannot be trusted to buy more than one a month."
He said he also will fight any attempt to establish a database to track lawful gun owners "to help ensure the civil rights of our members are protected."
Suzanne Smalley can be reached at [email protected].
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