The Berkshire County district attorney candidates in next week’s Democratic primary vocalized their stances on sentencing regarding illegal gun cases in Tuesday’s debate.
At the debate in Stockbridge, Mass. attorney Judith Knight said she would take a strong stance on those who violate laws involving firearms.
“Though I’m not a fan of mandatory minimums, I agree that jail time is appropriate for these charges,” said Knight.
Saying that “guns are much more dangerous than drugs,” Knight said that she would reverse what she sees as the current DA office’s trend of dropping gun charges over drug charges. Incumbent DA Paul Caccaviello said that the office asses gun charges on a case by case basis.
“There’s a lot of factors there- is it viable? Is it a working firearm? Is the person actually licensed?” said Caccaviello.
Andrea Harrington, the third candidate, said Massachusetts had “some of the most stringent firearms statues in the country.”
“And it’s really the job of the district attorney’s office to ensure that those laws are strictly enforced,” said Harrington.
She drew attention to safe storage cases, saying that her office would crack down on instances where guns were not thoroughly secured.
For more on the debate, click here.
The original version of this story said that Judith Knight’s opposition to mandatory minimums excluded crimes involving illegal firearms. The candidate reached out to WAMC to clarify that she opposes all mandatory minimums, including those that relate to illegal firearms, but she does support jail time for violations of those laws.
