PRESS RELEASE
July 18, 2024 | Stop Handgun Violence Praises the Act Modernizing Firearms
Boston, MA – Stop Handgun Violence, a Massachusetts based non-profit committed to preventing gun violence for 30 years in the Commonwealth, looks forward to witnessing the House and Senate vote to pass on H.4885, an Act Modernizing Firearms today.
“I am grateful to the House and Senate leadership, Speaker Ron Mariano and President Karen Spilka, who publicly expressed their commitment to a gun safety bill at a joint press conference with Stop Handgun Violence, Gabby Giffords, the MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, Brady and Everytown last month. I also commend the Gun Safety committee chairs, Representative Michael Day and Senator Cindy Creem, for achieving consensus on a comprehensive gun safety omnibus bill,” said John Rosenthal, founder and chair of Stop Handgun Violence.
“An Act Modernizing Firearms is an extensive bill with many key aspects, including codifying the assault weapon ban; addressing unserialized ghost guns; updating training, licensing and inspections of firearms; expanding the Extreme Risk Protection Order law; and analyzing crime gun data. Once signed into law, H.4885 will be one of the most intricate gun safety bills passed in the Commonwealth since 2014. This legislation will save lives and continue to make our families and communities safer without infringing on the Second Amendment or causing any inconvenience to law abiding gun owners such as myself.
Since 1994, Massachusetts has reduced the rate of gun deaths in the Commonwealth by 40 percent and has become the national model for gun safety. If every state with weaker gun laws, such as Pennsylvania, where the Trump Rally shooter was only 20 years old, replicated Massachusetts’ effective gun laws and regulations, we could prevent over half of the average 47,000* American lives lost to gun violence each year without banning most guns.”
*source: Gun Violence Archive 2022
###
June 14, 2024 | Stop Handgun Violence Response to SCOTUS Ruling on Bump Stock Ban
Boston, MA – Stop Handgun Violence is appalled by today’s Supreme Court decision striking down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, an accessory that allows semiautomatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns and was used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
Unfortunately, today’s decision is not surprising – given that the court’s majority is corrupted by special interests and self-serving perks, arrogance, and cowardice.
At a concert in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, bump stocks facilitated the killing of 60 people and injury of over 450. A majority on the Supreme Court, while acknowledging the deadly impact of using bump stocks to fire more bullets more rapidly to kill more people, would rather pass the buck to an ineffective Congress than maintain the ban. Apparently, the Court doesn’t care that while Congress sits on its blood-stained hands, more and more people will die senselessly and needlessly.
Every day there are two mass shootings of four or more people and 120 Americans die from preventable gun violence. This will keep happening every year, with at least 47,000* more Americans killed annually, until we change Congress, stop the special interest MAGA party, and enact effective gun laws and regulations like those in Massachusetts where sensible legislation has resulted in the state with the lowest gun death rate in America, saving lives without infringing on the Second Amendment.
*source: Gun Violence Archive 2022 data
###
Feb 2, 2024 | Stop Handgun Violence Applauds the Passage of the Safer Act
Boston, MA – Stop Handgun Violence, a Massachusetts based non-profit committed to preventing gun violence for 30 years in the Commonwealth, was pleased to witness the Senate vote out favorably for the Safer Act.
“I applaud Senate President Spilka and the large majority of Senators for their continued courageous and effective bipartisan leadership on gun violence prevention. Senate Bill S. 2572 dramatically improves current gun safety laws in Massachusetts by closing dangerous loopholes and by making it harder for legally prohibited gun buyers to access firearms without detection by law enforcement.
I’m optimistic that the House and Senate will be able to easily reconcile the two similar gun safety measures enacted by each branch. Once signed into law, this will be one of the most effective gun safety bills ever passed by any state. We are very lucky to live in MA, the state with the most responsible and courageous elected officials with respect to gun violence prevention and as a result, the most effective gun safety laws and lowest gun death rate of any state in the Nation. This legislation will absolutely save lives and continue to make our families and communities safer without any inconvenience to law-abiding gun owners like myself, ” said John Rosenthal, Founder and Chairman of Stop Handgun Violence.
Since 1994, Massachusetts has reduced the rate of gun deaths in the Commonwealth by 40 percent and has become the national model for gun safety. If every state replicated our effective Massachusetts gun laws and regulations, we could prevent over half of the average 47,000* American lives lost to gun violence each year without banning most guns.
*source: Gun Violence Archive 2022 data
###
Jan 26, 2024 | Stop Handgun Violence Supports the Massachusetts Safer Act Bill
Boston, MA – Stop Handgun Violence, a Massachusetts based non-profit committed to preventing gun violence for 30 years in the Commonwealth, commends legislation filed by Senator Cynthia Creem – the Safer Act, S.2572.
“President Karen Spilka and Senator Creem pledged to bring forth a broad gun safety bill and it has come to fruition. This legislation is a step forward in keeping our communities safer from the rising epidemic of gun violence, ” said John Rosenthal, Founder and Chairman of Stop Handgun Violence.
These bills touch on many important gun safety aspects, and include a ban on untraceable ghost guns; an update on the existing assault weapons ban; extension of some protection related to the Extreme Risk Protection Order and carrying firearms in sensitive places such as government and administrative buildings.
We thank President Spilka, Senator Creem and her leadership team for their continued commitment to life-saving gun safety legislation that will make the residents of the Commonwealth safer and prevent access to guns by children, criminals and others prohibited by law from buying them. Since 1994, our gun safety laws and regulations have reduced the rate of gun deaths in the Commonwealth by 40 percent. If every state replicated our effective gun laws and regulations, we could prevent over half of the average 47,000* American lives lost to gun violence each year without banning most guns.”
*source: Gun Violence Archive 2022 data
###
