The beginning of the great Boston gun grab????

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The Boston Globe
A call to talk about guns
Minister presses for conference after 2 shootings

By Maria Cramer and Adrienne P. Samuels, Globe Staff | November 14, 2005

One man was killed yesterday in a drive-by shooting and another was critically injured by unrelated gunfire, as Boston's homicide toll continued to mount and a Dorchester pastor called for a citywide conference to help stop gun violence.

A 25-year-old man was walking west on St. James Street in Roxbury about 2:40 a.m. yesterday when men driving a car on Washington Street fatally shot him, witnesses and police said.

The man, whose name police did not release, was the city's 60th homicide victim this year -- one more than this date last year.

''We have to stop this new wave of suicidal and destructive behavior that is wiping out a generation," the Rev. Bruce Wall said yesterday in a speech at the Greater Framingham Community Church in Framingham.

There, before hundreds of worshipers, Wall, senior pastor at Global Ministries Christian Church, said he wants to hold a conference, organized primarily by city clergy leaders, that would explore why and how guns are arriving in the city.

The number of shootings has jumped 28 percent through Oct. 23, compared with the same period last year, according to police statistics.

Citywide, there were 279 fatal and nonfatal shootings this year through Oct. 23, compared with 218 in the same period last year.

In yesterday's fatal shooting, the victim was apparently walking with another man on St. James Street toward Washington Street when a car drove up in front of them, according to one witness who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution.

The witness, who was walking in the opposite direction on St. James Street, said he did not see the men on the sidewalk exchange words with the men he saw in the car. Then he heard gunshots and darted inside his condo on St. James Street.

Several neighbors heard the shots and called 911.

The man who had been walking with the shooting victim frantically knocked on the doors of nearby houses asking for help, said neighbor Mickey Alexander, 57.

The shooting victim fell in the driveway of a green clapboard house at 69 St. James St. A white sheet marked the sidewalks there late yesterday.

About three hours before the killing, another man was wounded in an unrelated shooting in Dorchester, police said. The victim, whose name was not released, was shot in the face about 11 p.m. Saturday while walking near the Sydney Street entrance to the JFK/UMass MBTA station, police said.

A Boston teacher, who did not want to be identified, said she heard the shots while in her car. When she turned the corner, she said, she saw what appeared to be a teenage boy with curly hair and a tan complexion lying in a puddle of blood.

The teacher said she called 911 and watched while two men from down the street tried to assist the youth. The young man was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he was in critical condition yesterday, police said. Police are investigating both shootings.

''It's just insane," said Wall, of the recent gun violence.

He said that for the spring conference to be successful, it must be held in March or April, well before the summer, when street violence typically escalates. And the community, not city or law enforcement officials, must be behind its planning, Wall said.

''The clergy has to play a major role if the conference is going to have the credibility that it needs," he said in an interview following his sermon.

''We're not law enforcement. We're not turning these kids in. We're helping them. They give us shell casings. They give us guns. They trust us."

Wall said he planned to ask Mayor Thomas M. Menino to pay for the conference, which is being called ''Why Are Illegal Guns Being Sent to Boston's Black Community?" The conference would probably cost about $5,000 for food, photocopies, and the printing of a document detailing the proposed solutions, Wall said.

The mayor was out of town last night and could not be reached for comment.

Several members of the Framingham congregation said they planned to participate.

''I think it's a great idea," said Ron Flanders, 49, a member of Greater Framingham who works in Boston as a financial consultant. ''I'm inspired."
 
Mumbles already blamed the increase in Crime on Bush because of Federal cut backs. Boston will eventually do what D.C., Chicago, and S.F. have done, BAN all firearms from law abiding citizens. Regardless of what statistics show. Crime rate will continue to go up. [roll]
 
Let's see....

could it be because of restrictive laws?

could it be that some CofP's are tyranical in their issuing of licenses?

could it be that the law abiding are put through hell and made to pay thru the nose to defend themselves?

could it be because our AG has made getting a gun harder?

could it be that the law abiding are afraid to defend themselves because they'll be arrested for popping a scumbag?

could it be that the criminals aren't afraid of the populace due to aforementioned laws, CofP's and BS that we have to go through?

Nah....
 
i just got my permit, this is just my luck..
spent all this time and money and now mumbles is gonna go on an anti-gun crusade. I tell ya, new hamshire should start a relocation program :p
Is it so hard for people to understand that its mans violent nature, not the instruments they utilize to carry it out with thats the root of all evil...
 
So what I want to know if this...what about knives?? Death by stabbing is up this year as well, so what are they gonna do about that? Pass a law that bans steel? Sell only plastic ones? What?

[roll]
 
C-pher said:
Boston, IIRC, already has a pretty good law against knives. I know that my buddy has to always change out the one he keeps in his pocket when we go into town.

Well then, I see that law is working just as well as all the gun laws are. [roll]
 
Sad truth...

People like Menino and Reverend Wall here will blame the price of drywall screws in Sweden for the increased gun violence in Boston's black neighborhoods before they turn their attention to the black community itself to address any of the real underlying issues (drugs, poor parenting, hip-hop thug culture, etc.).
 
The beginning of the great Boston gun grab???

I'm in the same boat as Snakeye. I was planning to check out fsguns tomorrow and, hopefully, coax my first firearm into following me home. So yeah, Mumbles proposed random car stops (as well as his other rantings on the subject) and the suggestion that Boston is next in line to try handgun confiscation scares me. And, as far left as MA is, I wouldn't be surprised to see an attempt to implement the aforementioned, either. But, I'm not going to sit back and do nothing while such insane measures are taken. A few days ago I contributed to NRA (again!) to help in the legal battle with SF. And yesterday I joined GOAL (whom I believe will apply more leverage on bacon hill than I could alone).

Beyond that, what else can be done?
 
Re: The beginning of the great Boston gun grab???

MyKey said:
Beyond that, what else can be done?

Write and Call your reps. They might not want to hear it. But if you're polite and let them know that enough people in your neighborhood won't vote for them if they do this, then they start to change thier tunes.
 
Start a campaign to your legicritters and to all the papers, news stations, etc. citing the facts of gun control equals violence and laws don't dissuade criminals. Be polite, professional, and factual. If you have enough getting the truth out, eventually, it can't be ignored.
 
Lynne said:
So what I want to know if this...what about knives?? Death by stabbing is up this year as well, so what are they gonna do about that? Pass a law that bans steel? Sell only plastic ones? What?

[roll]

Mumbles will do exactly what David Dinkins did when he was confronted with the same problem as mayor of NYC ... call for tougher gun control laws. Don't you know that guns not only shoot people on their own, but they also recruit knives, baseball bats, pointed sticks and other formerly innocent, supposedly inanimate objects (even fresh fruit!) to assault people as well. Why if only guns were outlawed, then we'd all live in a land of complete peace and prosperity. I know because Rosie and Sarah both said so. [roll] [roll] [roll]

Ken
 
Derek, been thinking of joining GOAL for awhile. I think they represent my beliefs and have better connections than I do. (I assume you're affiliated.) C-Pher and TonyD, I hear ya. We all need to stand up for our rights, in whatever way we can. (I was never one to write letters to Reps, until the NRA asked me to.) One thing's sure, despite all the sabre-rattling going on in bacon hill country, I'm going to FS tomorrow :p
 
News Shooter said:
A 25-year-old man was walking west on St. James Street in Roxbury about 2:40 a.m. yesterday when men driving a car on Washington Street fatally shot him, witnesses and police said.

I don't suppose that walking down a street in Roxbury in the middle of the friggin night had anything to do with it [shock] nah.... :? probably part of the community watch program patrolling the streets. [roll]
 
Note that the authors refer to the attacks as "gun violence."

Does that mean that if the murderer used a Louisville Slugger, they would call it "baseball bat violence?"

Or suppose he threw his victim out a third story window. How would the reporters refer to that? Gravity violence?

JT
 
MyKey said:
Derek, been thinking of joining GOAL for awhile. I think they represent my beliefs and have better connections than I do.

How can anyone be involved or interested with guns in MASS and not be a memeber of GOAL??? [?] [?] [?]
 
MyKey said:
Derek, been thinking of joining GOAL for awhile. I think they represent my beliefs and have better connections than I do.

The only affiliation I have with them is myself and my wife are both members. If we could get all gun owners to join we would be sitting in a much better place right now.
 
i can understand how some poeple dont like to join the NRA becuase they dont want the political affiliation, but GOAL is right in your own backyard, its a requisite in my mind.
 
Lynne said:
So what I want to know if this...what about knives?? Death by stabbing is up this year as well, so what are they gonna do about that? Pass a law that bans steel? Sell only plastic ones? What?

[roll]

but they'll have to have little red tips so noone gets confused....
 
senorFrog said:
MyKey said:
Derek, been thinking of joining GOAL for awhile. I think they represent my beliefs and have better connections than I do.

How can anyone be involved or interested with guns in MASS and not be a memeber of GOAL??? [?] [?] [?]

If it wasn't for my reading NEShooters, I wouldn't have joined GOAL (I knew little about it). My previous encounter with the group was through web surfing; at that time I thought it might be worth checking out if I ever bought a gun. I came across this forum about two weeks ago when I decided that that time has come. Two nights ago I was reading one of the topics (re: noob looking for info on getting started) and several of y'all said join GOAL. As a noob myself, I took the suggestion.

This is really a good forum and I've learned a lot from it.
 
I wonder if they thought of doing a bit of comparision of how the crime rates in towns with restrictive/jump throughh hoops and offer first born to own a gun and those that only deny if your not legally qualified to own a gun.

Of course, they would NEVER publish those fact because it would prove the simple fact, criminals congregate to where the easiest victims are.
 
Skald said:
I wonder if they thought of doing a bit of comparision of how the crime rates in towns with restrictive/jump throughh hoops and offer first born to own a gun and those that only deny if your not legally qualified to own a gun..

long ago and far away (about 6 years ago) I lived in Hubbardston Mass. the CLEO there was (is?) great. his statement to me was "as long as you don't shoot somebody, I don't care" that was when I asked if I could target shoot in my backyard, which abutted MDC watershed.

I had a machine gun permit. took me 1 hour to get it, you heard right, 1 hour, and that was waiting for pictures, fingerprints and the laminator machine to warm up. He said that the LTC took 1 week because he was mandated by law to wait that long, but he could have given it to me in about an hour also.

anyway I drifted off what I meant to say.

There was an article in the Globe about how something like 90% of the homes in Hubbardston had guns (there were 3 people in town with machine gun permits, and my next door neighbor had 2 cannons). and all my Boston co workers were appalled at this. saying things like how could I live in such a dangerous place? til I showed them the stats that said there was NO violent crime out there. that the only murder was in the 1890's using an ax, and that I used to keep my house unlocked when I went to the store and never worried about it.
 
''We're not law enforcement. We're not turning these kids in. We're helping them. They give us shell casings. They give us guns. They trust us."

You have heard of money-laundering, right?

Sounds like firearms laundering here. Or disposing of evidence.
 
Sounds like firearms laundering here. Or disposing of evidence.

I don't see those people getting in trouble for illegal possession of a firearm. And he just admitted to it recieving firearms. If he doesn't hold a valid permit or store them correctly, then he's breaking the law!!



"Backwards" is right. It's not about gun law. It's not about licenses.

If people think that the restrictions that MA has put on guns has led to an increase in gun homicide then they are mislead. Just as it's not the legal gun owners committing crimes, it's really not people that are legally carrying for protection that are being shot. Every time I hear of a shooting it's in Roxbury or Dorchester. Sorry, but those young men being shot aren't one of us... those that carry legally for self protection.

The problem isn't the guns or the laws, for the people being shot in Dorchester.

However, it IS our problem that because of them, we're being penalized and restricted in our 2a right. It is our problem that due to these restrictions we can't protect ourselves to the fullest extent.

/soapbox
 
SnakeEye said:
i can understand how some poeple dont like to join the NRA becuase they dont want the political affiliation, but GOAL is right in your own backyard, its a requisite in my mind.

Re all this GOAL and NRA fence-sitters, the following quote comes to mind...

'the people get the government they deserve'

At a class for joining a local gun club w/about 75 - 100 new members, the instructor asked for a raise of hands re NRA and/or GOAL memebership. Less than half on both.

[irony-on]Sensitive MASS gunowners[/irony-off] would rather b***** on the internet about losing their rights, than join the [irony-on]angry right-wing NRA & GOAL[/irony-off]. Gee, the 30 bucks might break you.
 
"Sensitive MASS gunowners would rather b***** on the internet about losing their rights, than join the angry right-wing NRA & GOAL. Gee, the 30 bucks might break you." SF

Whoa pardner....I'd appreciate it if you didn't attach such sobriquents as "right wing" to the NRA. I am definitely no right winger, but have been a Life Member of the NRA since 1998 and an annual member for about twelve years before that (plus conditional life from 1994 on). I fully agree that membership in both the NRA and GOAL is something we should all aspire to and I really like your sentiments. Once again, however, we are taking a single issue: gun rights, and applying them to a broader political spectrum and agenda is counterproductive. Stick with gun rights and I'm with you 100 percent, start talking about prayer in shool, pro-life, and anti-Gay rights and I'm off the boat.

Now the s**tstorm is brewing folks, and it could be that the current AG will be the next governor, then we are really going to have a major problem. Don't be surprised to see some anti-handgun ordnance attempted in Boston between now and say, 2008. Echoing the sentiments of the other posters, you have to let your state reps and senators know where you stand, politely but firmly.

Regards,

Mark
 
I think you missed the little tags on that, Mark. The "angry right-wing" assertion is simply the favorite excuse of some people for not joining. There's also the other group that refuses to join because they're both too compromising on gun issues, not really as pro-gun as they should be, yada, yada, yada. Every cheap bastard has his or her own explanation as to why not chipping is is the politically and morally right thing to do.

Ken
 
And all this time, I thought I'd avoided joining the NRA, due to their SOFT position on gun-rights in the past. They changed, so, I've joined this year, after an agreement with a member on the FALFiles forum. I joined the NRA, he joined JPFO and GOA.

I also avoid extreme right wing organizations. The NRA is NOT one of them.
 
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