Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Committee to Reduce Firearm Violence has issued its report to the Legislature, making 44 unanimous recommendations to improve state gun policy.
The nine-member committee was commissioned by House Speaker Robert DeLeo a year ago to examine Massachusetts gun laws and propose legislation in response to the 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
The report concluded that Massachusetts gun laws are already among the strongest in the nation, and household gun ownership rates are among the lowest in the nation.
The committee’s legislative and policy recommendations include:
• The creation of guidelines for police chiefs in terms of what constitutes a suitable person for gun ownership and licensing
• The elimination of the Class B, or non-concealed carry, firearms license
• Allowing a firearms license renewal application, once filed, to keep a license active until the application can be acted upon
• The creation of standardized firearms safety classes that include an extensive live-fire component
• The creation of standardized protocols for school safety plans
• The use of “school resource officers” within school systems, with partial state funding
• The creation of grant programs to expand advisor/advisee programs in schools
• Increased funding for school-based, comprehensive mental health services
• State compliance with the NICS Improvement Act, a national database of factors that disqualify a person from owning a gun
The members of the committee have diverse backgrounds in academia, medicine, government and law enforcement. The chair was Jack McDevitt, associate dean for research for the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Northeastern University and director of the Institute on Race and Justice and the Center for Criminal Justice Policy Research.
Comprehensive gun violence legislation, integrating some of the report’s recommendations, is expected to be introduced in the House this spring.
The committee’s report may be accessed at www.northeastern.edu/cssh/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Strategies-for-Reducing-Gun-Violence-in-the-Commonwealth-of-Massachusetts.pdf.