During their regular meeting Monday, the Springfield City Council welcomed a pair of local state senators to its chambers to learn more about, and ultimately endorse, legislation addressing gun violence.
"We know that Massachusetts already is one of the lowest rates of gun violence in the nation, but it doesn't feel like that in the districts that myself, and also Senator Velis, represent,” said Senator Adam Gomez of Springfield, a former Springfield city councilor himself.
Gomez was joined by fellow Democrat Senator John Velis of Westfield at city hall.
The two were there to call on the council to endorse an amendment aimed at reducing gun violence by addressing what Velis calls "repeat firearm violent offenders."
The item, amendment #6, was put forward by Velis in early February as part of broader legislation to address and overhaul gun safety laws in the Commonwealth.
The SAFER Act would address unserialized and untraceable firearms, known as ghost guns, offer protections to domestic abuse survivors by preventing those under harassment prevention orders from holding firearms, and more.
With the Velis amendment, it would also create a legal mechanism that, according to the senator, would "ensure that repeat violent offenders of gun crimes" who violate conditions of their release be detained until trial.
"Often what happens is an individual is released following a hearing and then they subsequently violate a condition of that release by committing yet another gun crime or violent offense,” Velis told the council. “Repeat offenders often get released back into the community - despite their continued disregard for the conditions of their release and our laws."
Velis, whose district includes the city of Holyoke, brought up how one such offender was one of the suspects involved in a daylight shooting in the city back in October that left an unborn child dead after a pregnant woman was wounded.
The senator says that individual had been arrested a week prior on an unrelated firearms charge and had been let out on bail.
He also noted that following a year that included a record 31 homicides in the city of Springfield, some 40 percent of suspects involved had an open illegal firearm case against them beforehand.
“Both of us, we've had this conversation, believe in second chances, believe in forgiveness, believe in moving on, believe that there's more to this discussion than just this amendment,” Velis said. “But come on - when is enough enough?”
Sponsoring the city council item itself was Councilor Lavar Click-Bruce, who spoke briefly after the senators.
Click-Bruce says he had reached out to Velis about the endorsement item over the past month, and that while the recent shooting at the Springfield High School of Science & Technology wasn't the catalyst, it further motivated him to move forward with the item.
No one was wounded in the incident earlier in March, but students and parents were left panicking after a group of suspects got into Sci-Tech during school hours, leading to one firing a shot in a school hallway.
The councilor, along with Velis, also emphasized that the amendment is not the sole solution for the city's gun violence.
"I want to make clear, this is not the only solution,” Click-Bruce said. “There are multiple solutions that we all need to work together to make our city of Springfield safe. We all love to live here, and again, I'm here to listen and not only listen - to implement."
The Springfield City Council ultimately voted unanimously to endorse the legislation.
The Velis amendment has previously collected endorsements from both Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, as well as Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, and the President of the Massachusetts Chief of Police Association, Chief Eric Gillis of Agawam.
While the amendment was adopted on Beacon Hill, its fate is in the hands of state lawmakers from both the senate and house, who are currently hashing out a compromise bill, reconciling gun legislation filed in both chambers.
