AMERICA FACES AN EPIDEMIC OF SENSELESS GUN VIOLENCE

摘要

I AM A GUN OWNER. I'VE BEEN THE lead advocate for gun violence prevention here in Massachusetts. In 1994, I realized that 19 kids under 20 years old were dying every day, and 106 Americans dying every day, from firearms. So I built a 250-foot billboard of the Massachusetts Turnpike near Fenway Park and put up messages around gun safety. Since that point in Massachusetts, we've reduced gun deaths by 40 percent. We're an urban state with the lowest gun death rate in the nation and the lowest cost of gun violence. We've done it without banning most guns. I believe that there is a way to work within the Second Amendment and save lives without infringing on law-abiding gun owners. We put in place laws and regulations that require accountability and responsibility on the part of gun owners, gun dealers, gun manufacturers and law enforcement. In Massachusetts, we have renewable gun licensing, we require safe storage and safety training-just like automobiles. We became the first state in the nation to require that gun manufacturers put minimum safety features into their guns like trigger locks and magazine disconnects. We regulate real guns like the National Consumer Product Safety Commission regulates toy guns. We created an opportunity where it's discretionary licensing based on your history. We only ban military-style assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines. Law enforcement are given 13 to 17 rounds in their service weapons, so where's the logic in giving the general public 35- to 100-round magazines? We've proven that gun laws work without banning most guns.