Lexington Town Meeting Passes Non-Binding Gun Control Resolution

LEXINGTON, MA—Lexington Town Meeting took a strong stance in favor of tougher gun control laws Wednesday, passing a nonbinding resolution which asks Selectmen to inform the state legislature that current assault weapon regulations do not do the job.

Town meeting voted 105 to 62 with five abstaining in favor of Town Meeting member Robert Rotberg's proposed non-binding resolution, which asks the Board of Selectmen to initiate a town-wide discussion about gun violence, in order to yield "fully considered proposals" to present to the Massachusetts State Legislature. This vote comes after the Selectmen voted 5-0 in opposition of Rotberg's proposal to ban the possession, manufacturing, ownership or possession of certain weapons in town on March 8.

Heightened security measures were taken at the meeting, in which over 300 people attended.

The debate not only attracted attention from major media outlets such as the Boston Globe and NPR, it attracted attention from assault weapons advocates such as bearingarms.com, which first reported on the story in January with the headline "THE SKITTISH ARE COMING! 241 Years Later, Lexington Battles Gun Grabbers Again.

The non-binding nature of the resolution does not indicate that the Board of Selectmen has to form a committee to begin community discussions, but Select Board Chairman Joseph N. Pato told the Boston Globe that the board has historically followed the wishes of Town Meeting.

Check back with Patch for more on last night's decision.