Without a single Republican vote, the Massachusetts House and Senate sent the governor a massive overhaul of the state's gun laws Thursday, crossing one of the most significant items off of the Legislature's rest-of-July to-do list.
The conference committee report (H 4885), which was announced and unveiled Wednesday, passed the House on a 124-33 vote and then cleared the Senate by a tally of 35-5. A handful of Democrats joined all Republicans in opposition: Sen. Marc Pacheco, and Reps. Colleen Garry, Patricia Haddad, Kathy LaNatra, David Robertson, Alan Silvia, Jeff Turco and Jonathan Zlotnik. Independent Rep. Susannah Whipps also voted no.
The bill that Gov. Maura Healey now has 10 days to act upon would give law enforcement tools to crack down on untraceable "ghost guns," ban firearms in additional public spaces like schools, polling places and government buildings, and expands the 2018 "red flag" law to allow school administrators and licensed health care providers to petition a court to temporarily take firearms away from someone deemed a threat to themselves or others.
"Gun violence is anathema to a civil society, but it continues to uniquely plague us here in America. I have heard some critics of this legislation say that it's unnecessary, that it's a solution in search of a problem. Well, here is a problem: Since June one alone -- June one -- here in Massachusetts there have been 14 deaths from gun violence," Rep. Michael Day, the lead House negotiator, said Thursday before reading the names of those 14 people killed.
Day added, "That's just in Massachusetts. Since June one, there have been 107 mass shootings, injuring 576 people and killing 103 people in the United States -- June one to today. So there's your problem that we need to solve. We don't have to live this way."
Rep. Joseph McKenna, who represented the House minority caucus in negotiations but did not sign off on the final agreement, said that some parts of the bill "are not objectionable to anyone" and "would be worthy of support if carved out and singled, things such as intoxicated firearm carry, reckless discharge that strikes a dwelling, and the collection of data related to violent crime perpetrated with a gun."
But McKenna rebutted Day and said that the final product is "a solution in search of a problem."
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"The reality is that the commonwealth already has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. As a result, those who do choose to exercise their Second Amendment constitutional right have had to jump through hoops for decades to remain law-abiding citizens," he said. "Meanwhile, those intent on committing violence and doing so with a firearm will continue to have no regard for these proposed laws or for those already on the books."
McKenna added, "The gentleman read an impactful list of victims lost to gun violence. I certainly express remorse and sadness for those lives lost. But I must ask the gentleman, which section of this bill before us would have saved those lives?"
Public Safety Committee Chairman Rep. Carlos Gonzalez used last weekend's attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and the investigation that followed as an example of what would be possible with gun-tracing policies.
"Today we provide our law enforcement partners with some tools to track and trace firearms. Who could be against that?" he said. "A 20-year-old just shot our former president. And within an hour, they traced that weapon to who was the legal user of that weapon and that helped in the investigation. Why shouldn't we track and trace every single weapon involved in every crime in Massachusetts?"
After Thursday's votes, the Massachusetts chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action applauded the bill and said they expect Healey to sign it.
"Massachusetts is setting an example for the rest of the country. We’re showing that even with existing gun safety laws, there’s always more action we can take to save lives," Grace Field, a volunteer leader with the Boston University Students Demand Action chapter, said. "Gun violence is the leading cause of death for my generation, so there’s nothing more urgent to us than addressing this uniquely-American crisis. We thank Massachusetts lawmakers for their commitment to our safety and look forward to building on this progress."
