guns

Bill On Gun Violence Expected To Be Debated On Beacon Hill This Fall

Paul Tuthill — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:15:00 +0000

New York and Connecticut have already enacted new gun laws in the wake of December’s Newtown school shooting. The Massachusetts legislature is expected to take up a bill before the end of the 2013 legislative session.

The point person for gun issues in the Massachusetts House says he hopes to recommend a comprehensive bill by September. Democratic State Representative Harold Naughton of Clinton , who co-chairs the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security said the goal is to update the state’s already strict gun ownership laws.

Partisan Local Reaction to Gun Vote

Pat Bradley — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:30:00 +0000

Unable to break the filibuster threshold, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday rejected an effort to expand federal background checks to include all transactions at gun shows and online. In our region, gun control advocates say it will move their efforts to the state level.

Tom King, New York Rifle and Pistol Association - Challenging the NY SAFE Act in federal court

Brian Shields — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Another lawsuit has been filed challenging New York’s new gun law, the NY SAFE Act. The court action was filed today in federal court in Buffalo by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association along with a number of other organizations. A separate lawsuit filed earlier challenging how the law was passed was dismissed and is now being appealed. Tom King, president of the 45,000 member New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, tells WAMC's Brian Shields that the new lawsuit is focused on the U.S. Constitution.

Springfield Police Expand Use Of Gunshot Detection Technology

Paul Tuthill — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:36:00 +0000

Police in Springfield Massachusetts are expanding the use of gunshot detection technology.

The area of Springfield now covered by the gun shot detection system has been roughly doubled. The expansion was paid for by $120,000 in private donations collected by the New North Citizens Council as part of the civic organization’s safe neighborhood initiative. Springfield Police Commissioner William Fitchet said the technology can put police on a crime scene in time to make an arrest and seize a gun

Karen Hitchcock: Guns on Campus - An Issue of Great Urgency

Karen Hitchcock — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:45:00 +0000

Let me start my commentary today with an anecdote: Eighteen year- old, Jane Doe, had just arrived at her residence hall at a university and was eagerly anticipating meeting her roommate and getting to know other first- year classmates.

Motive still unknown in Herkimer Co. shooting rampage

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:37:59 +0000

HERKIMER, N.Y. — Authorities in Herkimer County say they have yet to uncover the motive behind yesterday's rampage at a car wash and a barbershop that left four people dead. The suspect in the shootings was shot and killed in a firefight with police Thursday morning.

UPDATED (3/13, 5:27 p.m.): Gov. Cuomo - Herkimer shootings a "senseless horror"

Associated Press — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:31:11 +0000

HERKIMER, N.Y. (AP) — Police say they're searching an upstate New York village after exchanging fire with a man suspected of killing four people and wounding two others.

State police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico says SWAT teams and other officers were fired on from an abandoned building in Herkimer early Wednesday afternoon while looking for 64-year-old Kurt Myers.

College cleared after search for reported gunman

Associated Press — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 03:08:16 +0000

MANCHESTER, Conn. (AP) — Manchester police say the Manchester Community College campus has been cleared after officers searched campus buildings for several hours when a student reported seeing a man with what she believed to be a gun in his waistband.

ER Doctors Help Gun Buyback Effort

Paul Tuthill — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:25:00 +0000

A gun buyback program in western Massachusetts has received a boost from some people who are almost daily witnesses to the problem of gun violence.

Trauma surgeons, other doctors, and staff at Baystate Medical Center, as well as the hospital itself are helping to fund the gun buyback program that will be held March 2^nd at the Springfield Police Dept Headquarters. Dr. Ronald Gross, the chief of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at the hospital spearheaded the effort that resulted in a contribution of $2,450 to buyback guns.

Stephen Gottlieb: Guns, Militias and Public Safety

Stephen Gottlieb — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:30:00 +0000

I’d like to address the debate over guns from an angle very different than the general conversation. Most of the conversation is about whether guns increase or decrease the risk of homicide or suicide. I’m pretty well convinced that the most likely victims of guns in the house are the people in the household, just as most car accidents happen within a short distance from home. But that’s not what I want to talk about. I see another problem that I think is quite significant.