Buck F
NES Member
"So what makes this state’s gun laws effective? Two elements are key: All gun sales, eventhose from private sellers, incorporate a federal background check at some stage in the process." Good to know... lol.
www.bostonglobe.com
For gun-safety activists or everyday Massachusetts citizens concerned about gunviolence, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show
Massachusetts is the state with the least amount of gun violence per capita
, while anew study by
Everytown for Gun Safety
concludes that the Commonwealth has thelowest-in-the-nation per capita costs from gun violence. Building on that good news, US
2/28/2021 As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe
As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe 2/4
“Here’s the trifecta: The gun industry in Massachusetts sells more guns nationally thanare manufactured in any other state, and yet we have the lowest per capita gun-deathrate in the nation and the lowest per capita costs from gun injuries and death in thenation,” said Rosenthal, himself a gun owner.
Take all that together, said Rosenthal, and it shows that tough gun laws work, even whilegiving the lie to the gun lobby’s claim that the real goal of gun-safety advocates isbanning the manufacturing, sale, or ownership of firearms. The only firearms that can’tbe sold in Massachusetts that are available other places are military-style assault riflesand so-called
Saturday night specials
.
So what makes this state’s gun laws effective? Two elements are key: All gun sales, eventhose from private sellers, incorporate a federal background check at some stage in theprocess. Secondly, to purchase a gun, someone must first apply to the local police chieffor a renewable license; even if the applicant passes the federal background check, thechief can deny a license if, based on reliable information, he or she deems the applicant arisk to public safety or to themselves.
In the latest available
CDC data
, from 2019, Massachusetts had 3.4 gun deaths per100,000 residents. Worst-ranking Alaska had 24.4 deaths per 100,000 people.
Alaska is hardly an outlier. Other weak-gun-law states are almost as bad. Mississippihad 24.2 gun deaths per 100,000, while Wyoming and New Mexico each suffered 22.3such deaths per 100,000. (Those rates include suicides, criminal deaths, and accidents.) NowEverytown,thenonprofitadvocacygrouplargelyfundedbyformerNewYorkCity Senator Ed Markey hopes to make the Massachusetts approach to guns the model forother states. All of which leaves John Rosenthal, cofounder of Stop Handgun Violence and a long time force for strong gun laws, feeling pretty good.
2/28/2021 As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe 3/4
Now Everytown, the nonprofit advocacy group largely funded by former New York Citymayor Michael Bloomberg, has
put a price on gun violence Working with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Everytown hasestimated all the expenses associated with shootings, from ambulance costs to medicaltreatment to police and criminal justice to lost income for victims and families to reducedproductivity for employers.
Everytown’s new study estimates that gun carnage costs the nation some $51 billion inlost income, another $10.7 billion in police and criminal justice expenditures, and $3.5billion in medical costs.
Some key take-aways:
▪ From first responders to ambulances to medical care to police and criminal justice, ourfederal, state, and local governments spend almost $35 million
each day coping with gunviolence.
▪ Every gun fatality costs taxpayers $270,000 on average.
▪ The total cost of a hospital stay for a nonlethal gun injury averages $67,245, which isalmost as much as the US median household income of $68,000.
▪ According to a model based on jury awards from motor-vehicle-accident and consumer-product liability cases, gun violence enacts a quality-of-life toll of $214 billion annually.
This report makes obvious that states with higher gun injuries and deaths are sufferingsignificantly greater financial burdens, both in the public sector and among individuals.Louisiana has a per capita cost of almost $1,800. Mississippi’s is about $1,700, Alaska’salmost $1,500. And Massachusetts? Just $261.
Now Markey is introducing
legislation
to offer federal grants to reward states that adoptlaws like ours. If, given the
overwhelming national support for background checks ofall potential gun buyers
, this bill can’t pass the Senate, “then there is going to be nobetter case for removal of the filibuster,” Markey said in an interview.
2/28/2021 As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe
As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe 4/4
As for the name of this bill? The Making America Safe and Secure — that is, the MASS —Act.
Would you expect anything less from the Bay State senator determined to make NRAstand for “Not Relevant Anymore”?
Scot Lehigh is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at
[email protected]
. Follow him on Twitter
@GlobeScotLehigh
.
As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe
Other states should follow suit.
www.bostonglobe.com
For gun-safety activists or everyday Massachusetts citizens concerned about gunviolence, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show
Massachusetts is the state with the least amount of gun violence per capita
, while anew study by
Everytown for Gun Safety
concludes that the Commonwealth has thelowest-in-the-nation per capita costs from gun violence. Building on that good news, US
2/28/2021 As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe
As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe 2/4
“Here’s the trifecta: The gun industry in Massachusetts sells more guns nationally thanare manufactured in any other state, and yet we have the lowest per capita gun-deathrate in the nation and the lowest per capita costs from gun injuries and death in thenation,” said Rosenthal, himself a gun owner.
Take all that together, said Rosenthal, and it shows that tough gun laws work, even whilegiving the lie to the gun lobby’s claim that the real goal of gun-safety advocates isbanning the manufacturing, sale, or ownership of firearms. The only firearms that can’tbe sold in Massachusetts that are available other places are military-style assault riflesand so-called
Saturday night specials
.
So what makes this state’s gun laws effective? Two elements are key: All gun sales, eventhose from private sellers, incorporate a federal background check at some stage in theprocess. Secondly, to purchase a gun, someone must first apply to the local police chieffor a renewable license; even if the applicant passes the federal background check, thechief can deny a license if, based on reliable information, he or she deems the applicant arisk to public safety or to themselves.
In the latest available
CDC data
, from 2019, Massachusetts had 3.4 gun deaths per100,000 residents. Worst-ranking Alaska had 24.4 deaths per 100,000 people.
Alaska is hardly an outlier. Other weak-gun-law states are almost as bad. Mississippihad 24.2 gun deaths per 100,000, while Wyoming and New Mexico each suffered 22.3such deaths per 100,000. (Those rates include suicides, criminal deaths, and accidents.) NowEverytown,thenonprofitadvocacygrouplargelyfundedbyformerNewYorkCity Senator Ed Markey hopes to make the Massachusetts approach to guns the model forother states. All of which leaves John Rosenthal, cofounder of Stop Handgun Violence and a long time force for strong gun laws, feeling pretty good.
2/28/2021 As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe 3/4
Now Everytown, the nonprofit advocacy group largely funded by former New York Citymayor Michael Bloomberg, has
put a price on gun violence Working with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Everytown hasestimated all the expenses associated with shootings, from ambulance costs to medicaltreatment to police and criminal justice to lost income for victims and families to reducedproductivity for employers.
Everytown’s new study estimates that gun carnage costs the nation some $51 billion inlost income, another $10.7 billion in police and criminal justice expenditures, and $3.5billion in medical costs.
Some key take-aways:
▪ From first responders to ambulances to medical care to police and criminal justice, ourfederal, state, and local governments spend almost $35 million
each day coping with gunviolence.
▪ Every gun fatality costs taxpayers $270,000 on average.
▪ The total cost of a hospital stay for a nonlethal gun injury averages $67,245, which isalmost as much as the US median household income of $68,000.
▪ According to a model based on jury awards from motor-vehicle-accident and consumer-product liability cases, gun violence enacts a quality-of-life toll of $214 billion annually.
This report makes obvious that states with higher gun injuries and deaths are sufferingsignificantly greater financial burdens, both in the public sector and among individuals.Louisiana has a per capita cost of almost $1,800. Mississippi’s is about $1,700, Alaska’salmost $1,500. And Massachusetts? Just $261.
Now Markey is introducing
legislation
to offer federal grants to reward states that adoptlaws like ours. If, given the
overwhelming national support for background checks ofall potential gun buyers
, this bill can’t pass the Senate, “then there is going to be nobetter case for removal of the filibuster,” Markey said in an interview.
2/28/2021 As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe
As Massachusetts shows, strong gun-safety laws work - The Boston Globe 4/4
As for the name of this bill? The Making America Safe and Secure — that is, the MASS —Act.
Would you expect anything less from the Bay State senator determined to make NRAstand for “Not Relevant Anymore”?
Scot Lehigh is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at
[email protected]
. Follow him on Twitter
@GlobeScotLehigh
.
![[thinking]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/010.gif "Thinking [thinking]")
