Gun Laws Top Boston City Council President Murphy's 2013 Goals
Gun control laws are regulated at the state and federal level, but Boston City Council President Murphy believes the city can affect change, too.
The Boston City Council unanimously elected Stephen Murphy to serve as council president for 2013.
During the Council's first meeting on Jan. 7 after being re-elected as council president, Murphy, an at-large councilor from Hyde Park, took on banning assault weapons.
“No sportsman or gun collector needs an assault weapon. There is no sport in using an automatic rifle,” said Murphy. The Boston City Council and Mayor Thomas Menino supported a ban on assault weapons after the Newtown school shooting.
Gun control laws are regulated at the state and federal levels, but Murphy believes the council can affect change in three ways:
- Supporting the ban on assault weapons;
- Supporting calls for strict background checks and mental health screenings on all handguns;
- And by placing public pressure on the entertainment industry to reign in the glorification of violence.
Murphy also promised to be actively involved in the rejuvenation of the Fairmount-Indigo Commuter Rail project through Dorchester, according to a press release. Several stations along the line are poised to be activated in the coming year as Transit Oriented Developments (TODs), which will provide housing near transit stations.
“Many lower-wage jobs require workers to be in close proximity to the city, but housing and transit prices have increased while wages have remained relatively steady," said Murphy. "The TODs will meet the needs of the city workforce by providing affordable housing opportunities, increased community development, and decreased transit times.”
This is Murphy's third term as council president. In 2012, the council voted on rule changes that make the city council president position a 2-year term that coincides with the election cycle. Councilors may serve multiple terms, but not consecutively, and the rules go into effect in 2014.
Ben Jackson
11:36 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
I am so glad to see some politicians starting to actively talk sense on gun laws. Unified, cities, towns, police chiefs, parents, and individuals can overcome the bizarre and bloody-handed stranglehold the NRA has on congress.
Hal Shurtleff
9:07 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013
Ben: It looks like you know very little about the issue. Guns in the hands of law-abiding people are used thousands of times each day to prevent crimes and save lives. Check out the book by liberal Professor Glick "More Guns, Less Crime." He was once a supporter of gun bans but did his homework, I would recommend you check out Jews for the Pr
eservation of Firearm Ownership http://jpfo.org/
Ben Jackson
9:26 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013
Sorry, Hal- but you're looking more interested in spouting gun-industry red herrings than dealing with the bloody reality of our gun culture.
1. The book you're speaking of is by John Lott, who is by no means a liberal. The book has been strongly academically refuted - along with dome support. The most honest thing snyone can say about it is that it inconclusive and in dispute.
2. No matter what, your China srabbing argument actually backs the gun-bsn positions. In those cases, something like 200 peoply gave been stabbed in china attacks over a two year period, of whom only 25 died. When the whole story us there, paints a completely different picture than your misleading headline.
3. None of your arguments aknowledge the 31,000 gun deaths and nearly quarter-million non-fatsl shootings each year in this country. Your right to own a gun does *not* trump my daughter's right to go to school and not get shot.
Dan
1:05 pm on Friday, January 11, 2013
1. Violent crime – including violent crime using guns – has dropped massively over the past 20 years.
The violent crime rate - which includes murder, rape, and beatings - is half of what it was in the early 1990s. And the violent crime rate involving the use of weapons has also declined at a similar pace.
2. Mass shootings have not increased in recent years.
Despite terrifying events like Sandy Hook or last summer’s theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, mass shootings are not becoming more frequent. “There is no pattern, there is no increase,” says criminologist James Allen Fox of Northeastern University, who studies the issue. Other data shows that mass killings peaked in 1929.
3. Schools are getting safer.
Across the board, schools are less dangerous than they used be. Over the past 20 years, the rate of theft per 1,000 students dropped from 101 to 18. For violent crime, the victimization rate per 1,000 students dropped from 53 to 14.
Dan
1:07 pm on Friday, January 11, 2013
4. There Are More Guns in Circulation Than Ever Before.
Over the past 20 years, virtually every state in the country has liberalized gunownership rules and many states have expanded concealed carry laws that allow more people to carry weapons in more places. There around 300 million guns in the United States and at least one gun in about 45 percent of all households. Yet the rate of gun-related crime continues to drop.
5. “Assault Weapons Bans” Are Generally Ineffective.
While many people are calling for reinstating the federal ban on assault weapons – an arbitrary category of guns that has no clear definition – research shows it would have no effect on crime and violence. “Should it be renewed,” concludes a definitive study, “the ban’s effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement.”
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting is as horrifing a crime as can be imagined. It rips at the country’s heart and the call to action is strong and righteous. But as Joe Biden and his panel of experts consider changes to gun laws and school-safety policies, they need to lead with their heads and not just their hearts.
Over the past dozen years, too many policies – the Patriot Act, the war in Iraq, the TARP bailouts – have been ruled by emotion and ideology.
Passing sweeping new restrictions on rights won’t heal the pain and loss we all feel but just may create many more problems in our future.
Michael Barrett
4:41 pm on Saturday, January 12, 2013
Well said. Gotta love the "honesty" on the issue when politicians talk about AUTOMATIC guns. When they cannot tell the truth and don't even know the parts of a firearm or their abilities/functions, they should stay out of it.
CT has had an "assault" weapons ban since 1993 did it matter? CA has one and they had a mass shooting last year. Columbine shooting was 4 years after the federal "assault" weapons ban was passed. It did not help. There is no push to normal people to try and ban any firearms, it is a worthless measure that affects legal gun owners only.
There will be no ban on guns (any guns), and no changes to the law to affect legal gun owners. There is no power to the NRA or other groups without the support of 10's of millions of gun owners. There influence is because the public is very strongly on the side of legal gun owners.
Hal Shurtleff
9:11 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_attacks_in_China_(2010%E2%80%932012)
An article about killers using knives to murder 25 children in China.
Hal Shurtleff
10:26 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013
Ben: I stand corrected-John Lott. Yes, his book has been academically refuted by those who support gun control. You said that I am spouting gun industry red herrings while you say something outrageous as "The NRA's bizarre and bloody handed control on Congress." Do you really believe that the NRA is responsible for Sandy Hook? You employed a classic "non sequitur" by writing that your daughter's right to go school and not get shot trumps my right to own a gun." Our daughters and my son certainly have a right to be safe anywhere but it has nothing to do with my owning or not owning a 20 round clip. The 30,000 gun deaths include a high percentage of criminals killing other criminals, and suicides while most of the murders happen in cities with strict gun control. States that have the highest gun ownership per capita like Vermont and Maine have the lowest crime rate.