Stop Handgun Violence Celebrates 20 Years of Successful Advocacy and Results for Gun Violence Prevention in Massachusetts
Boston, MA – Last night, the leading gun violence prevention advocates in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts gathered to celebrate twenty years of progress towards making the Commonwealth safer. At the event, Stop Handgun Violence honored key individuals from both sides of the political aisle who have helped make Massachusetts the national leader in gun violence prevention. The honorees included: Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Robert DeLeo, original SHV Board Member Matt Lindley, Former Massachusetts Senate President Robert Travaglini, and posthumous awards to Former Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci and SHV Co-Founder Michael Kennedy, which were presented to their families.
The event also included a video tribute to the organization’s work including messages from Jackson Browne, Congressmen Joe Kennedy, and Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren.
“We are extremely proud of what we have accomplished in just twenty years in Massachusetts.” Said Co-Founder John Rosenthal “The Commonwealth now has some of the strongest gun laws in the country and the second lowest gun deaths per 100,000 population in the U.S. Through our high profile billboard campaigns and advocacy work, we have successfully changed the historically polarized debate and enacted effective gun laws that have saved countless lives without banning guns. There is still much more work to do to hold neighboring states with lax gun laws accountable and we are recommitting ourselves to helping reduce the thirty thousand gun deaths every year in the United States.”
The video tribute is below: