Advocates for Safe and Sound Gun Laws Holds Forum on Reducing Gun violence in MA and Beyond

On May 19^th, Advocates for Safe and Sound Gun Laws (AFSSGL) held a forum entitled “Reducing gun violence - Where do we go from here?” at Temple Hillel B’nai Torah in West Roxbury.  A crowd of fifty heard presentations from Angus McQuilken co-convener, Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, and Nancy Robinson, Executive Director, Citizens for Safety. 

Rabbi Barbara Penzner began the evening by emphasizing that moral outrage is the foundation of working against gun violence, and that silence is a form of complicity,  The Rabbi also said she did not believe in banning all guns, but in working toward solutions without infringing on the rights of responsible gun owners.

AFSSGL member, Suzanne Schlossberg, described how this group of citizens from West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and Dedham, formed after the tragic massacres at Sandy Hook Elementary  School to promote “safe and sound” gun policies.   She then urged everyone to “let our elected officials know that we expect better from them.  As citizens, we are ultimately responsible for the kind of government — and gun laws — we get.”

Featured speaker, Angus McQuilken, highlighted the need for expanding current federal background check laws to include gun shows and private sales (which account for 40% of all gun sales), and the creation of a federal ban on semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

According to McQuilken, “Every year guns kill 30,000 Americans. That’s more than were killed in the 9/11 attacks and more than the number of Americans killed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.”

On the state level, he proposed letting police chiefs deny a rifle and/or shotgun license to a person if they deem them a risk, just as they can do for handgun licenses now.  McQuilken also endorses a law requiring that anyone applying for gun licenses must allow access to his or her mental health record.  Such a law will help reduce suicides levels, and ensure that only people who want to buy a gun would have their mental health records entered into a data base.

Nancy Robinson, whose focus is on keeping illegal guns out of the hands of criminals and youth, then described the problem of gun trafficking in Boston and other urban areas.  “Most violent crimes … are committed with handguns by felons and minors who do not have a Second Amendment right to possess them.  Strengthening background check legislation will only solve part of the problem.  Equally important is educating people about the problem of trafficking.”

 Robinson spoke movingly about the work Citizens for Safety is doing through Operation LIPSTICK. This program employs peer-to-peer education to raise awareness among inner city women, who are often used as “straw purchasers” to buy guns for men legally barred from obtaining them.

Following the presentations, moderator Sherry Flashman, founder of Citizens for Gun Violence Prevention, presided over a lively question and answer session.  Many in the audience wanted to know what they could do to promote sensible policy.  AFSSGL suggested people join local groups working on gun issues, attend hearings on pending gun legislation in Massachusetts this summer and fall, and contact their state legislators asking them to support the efforts of the MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.