MASSACHUSETTS HAS BEEN a progressive leader in common-sense gun control. The Commonwealth requires permits for gun purchases, maintains an assault weapons ban, restricts magazine capacity, and mandates universal background checks for the private sale of firearms. On top of these measures, applicants for gun licenses have to take a gun safety course, and the licensing […]
Gun control
Posted inGun ownership
Judge upholds assault weapons ban
STATE HOUSE NEWS A federal judge ruled the state’s 1998 assault weapons ban did not violate the Second Amendment and also upheld Attorney General Maura Healey’s 2016 decision to notify gun owners that “copycat” assault weapons were also subject to the ban. In his 47-page order, US District Court Judge William Young said the AR-15 “and its […]
Posted inThe Download
And the young shall lead
When little movement occurred to change gun laws following the 2012 slaughter at Sandy Hook Elementary School, it was easy to become cynical about the idea that the country would ever budge from its strong pro-gun posture. If the murder of 20 six- and seven-year-olds doesn’t shake the country’s conscience, went the thinking, nothing will. […]
Posted inOpinion
Lawmakers should heed Parkland students’ call for reform
AS PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORS, we are united by our deeply held commitment to the health, wellness, and safety of our students. That commitment encompasses our shared belief that students should not have to live in fear of losing their lives or watching friends die because elected leaders refuse to protect them. While Massachusetts has been a […]
Posted inThe Download
The kids are all right
It’s always hard to know a particular moment in time is the turning point in a debate. In hindsight, marking the point is easy but in the midst of a change, it’s not always clear when the momentum shifts. But what Harvey Weinstein and the #metoo movement have done for bringing awareness to sexual harassment […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion, Politics
Solution to domestic violence homicide: Fewer guns or more guns?
SINCE 2012, THERE have been 82 domestic violence homicides in Massachusetts, many involving the use of a gun. What’s to be done about these tragedies? The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee heard testimony on Tuesday on two bills with starkly opposing solutions to the problem, both solutions involving access to guns. One bill would create a new kind […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Guns
Crime and punishment
Photographs by Mark Ostow DIANE MCMANUS SAYS her youngest child, Timothy, is “no street kid.” He was “raised in the church,” she says, a respectful son who minded the rules she set down, even as a teenager growing up in a rough patch of Dorchester off Blue Hill Avenue. But while Diane McManus was out […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Healey declares success on gun ban
It’s been more than a month since Attorney General Maura Healey announced her crackdown on sales of assault weapons she said are in violation of the 1998 state law barring such rifles, and the only thing that’s slowed down are sales. The anger and vitriol from gun advocates continues – often in a vile and […]
Posted inGun ownership, Guns, State House News Service
Mass. mayors back AG on assault weapons
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY faced a barrage of criticism in the weeks following her announcement of stepped up enforcement of the state’s assault weapons ban, but the state’s top prosecutor and her allies have spent the better part of the past week trying to change the narrative by highlighting support for […]
Posted inGun ownership, Guns
Healey clears gun buyers
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY decided to allow those who bought nearly 2,300 assault weapons in Massachusetts to keep their new guns even though they were purchased after she ordered the sales stopped. But Healey has not backed away from her threat to levy criminal or civil sanctions against dealers who sold one of the banned assault […]