Crime & Safety

Does Massachusetts Need More Gun Control?

Some of the state's top advocates for gun laws spoke at a press conference oN Thursday.

Do assault weapons and large ammunition clips need to be banned again in the U.S.?

Advocates of expanding gun laws in Massachusetts, including some top law enforcement officials, spoke on the subject Thursday in Boston, according to the Boston Herald.

Those who spoke at the Art Institute Boston included the State Public Safety Secretary, a State Police Major, Boston's Police Commissioner and the chairman of Stop Handgun Violence, a nonprofit that supports further gun control, according to the Herald. They asked Sen. Scott Brown and others in congress to end their opposition to a ban of assault rifles and high volume ammunition clips.

Find out what's happening in Stonehamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A spokesmen for Brown told the Boston Globe that the Senator believes such control should be up to states. In 2004, then-Governor Mitt Romney approved a permanent ban on assault weapons in Massachusetts. A federal assault weapon ban passed in 1994 expired in 2004 and hasn't since been renewed.

The Brady Campaign, a gun control advocacy group, ranked Massachusetts as having the third-strongest gun control laws in the country in 2011, trailing California and New Jersey.

Find out what's happening in Stonehamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But many guns come over the border from nearby states with looser laws. According to the Globe, 212 of 1,020 guns recovered in Massachusetts by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that were traced by to their state of origin came from either New Hampshire or Maine.

What do you think? Tell us in the comments.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.