Senator Ed Markey has been working on gun legislation for almost 40 years. Now, he says Congress and all states need to look to Massachusetts for how to find success in reducing gun violence.
Mayor Marty Walsh and other gun control activists met at Boston police headquarters to help Sen. Markey promote his new federal gun legislation - modeled after laws that already exist in Massachusetts.
“It is in part due to these laws that we have the lowest gun death rate of all 50 states,” Markey says.
“The Making America Safe and Secure Act” requires anyone who wants to buy a gun to first be granted a license by the police chief in their community which Markey says is critical because “police chiefs know the residents of their communities. They know how many times police officers have been called to a home.”
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans agrees.
“Nobody will get a license if they’ve been convicted of a felony, if they’ve been involved in domestic violence, or if they’ve been institutionalized for mental illness."
The M.A.S.S. Act will authorize the Justice Department to distribute grants totaling $20 million in each of the next five years to states that maintain comprehensive licensing standards for gun owners and dealers. In order to be eligible, states must allow police to deny or revoke gun licenses.
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Gun control activists say the country needs to act on the momentum that has been created since the Parkland shootings.
Angela Christiana of “Moms Demand Action” says she’s seen that momentum firsthand.
“We can sense it in the numbers, and the membership we’ve gained - 1.3 million members in the last three weeks.”
The gun control activists in Boston Monday said they do not support NRA proposals to arm teachers or to allow gun owners with concealed carry permit to carry nationwide.
