On Wednesday, August 28, 2019, the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security will hear testimony on over 60 firearm bills. Stop Handgun Violence board member, Gail Erdos, will be testifying on behalf of the organization.
“We applaud the legislature for holding a hearing on these important bills.” said John Rosenthal, founder of Stop Handgun Violence. “Under the 2014 law, a web portal was created to provide an easy way for private gun sellers and buyers to run a background check on each other during a sale. However, the Massachusetts system is unable to connect to the broader NICS system. Therefore, it is extremely important that the legislature move to close this loophole by requiring sales to include both a NICS background check and a MIRCS background check. We are supporting Rep. Linsky’s An Act relative to universal background checks for private gun sales to close this loophole”
“Massachusetts has been a national leader on gun violence prevention” said Gail Erdos, Stop Handgun Violence board member. “However, there is still more to do. Since 2014, crime gun data has been collected by the commonwealth. Unfortunately, this data has not been utilized successfully. We support Rep. Decker and Senator Creem’s crime gun data analysis bill which would require a report about the existing data so that legislators and law enforcement can effectively target the source of guns used in crime.”
In addition to those priorities, we support the following bills:
- Priority: Representative Linsky’s (H. 2092) “An Act relative to universal background checks for private gun sales”
- Priority: Representative Decker/Senator Creem (S.1388/ H. 2045) “An act relative to crime gun data reporting and analysis”
- An act relative to firearms and firearm violence (Senator Creem -S.1387)
- An Act authorizing the voluntary disavowal of eligibility to purchase a firearm (Rep. Decker – H. 2048)
- An act relative to ghost guns (Rep. Decker – H. 3843)
- An Act requiring licensed gun owners to submit a yearly affidavit (Rep. Decker – H. 3576)
- An Act relative to the reckless discharge of firearms (Rep. Decker H. 2046)
- An Act making firearm owners civilly liable for damage caused by lost or stolen firearms (Rep. Decker H. 2044)
- An Act establishing an institute within the Department of Public Health (Senator Brownsberger/ Rep. Linsky S.1368/ H.3577)
- An Act relative to 3D printed weapons and “ghost guns” (Rep. Linsky H. 2096)
- An Act to clarify the prosecution of illegal guns (Rep. Linsky H. 2094)
- An Act requiring live fire practice for a firearms license (Rep. Linsky H. 2091)
- An Act to require liability insurance for gun ownership (Rep. Linsky H. 2093)
- An Act establishing a smart gun technology task force (Rep. Peisch H. 2117)
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Stop Handgun Violence(SHV) is a Massachusetts based non-profit organization committed to the prevention of gun violence through education, public awareness, effective law enforcement and common sense gun laws. SHV has been the lead advocate in Massachusetts for enactment of the most effective gun violence prevention laws and first in the nation consumer protection regulations. The organization does not seek to restrict Constitutional rights,but advocates only for common sense legislation that will help save lives. For more information, go to www.stophandgunviolence.org