New bills are eyed on gun control
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff, 1/26/2001
month after a massacre at a Wakefield office, two gun-control advocates in the
Legislature said they see growing momentum to pass several bills that would make the
state's toughest-in-the-nation gun laws even stricter.
The rampage that took the lives of seven Edgewater Technology Inc. workers Dec. 26 has
brought new urgency to the effort to win passage of gun-control bills, said Senator Cheryl A.
Jacques, a Needham Democrat who has pushed for more stringent gun laws.
''Any time there's a tragedy like Wakefield, it focuses people back on a problem that just hasn't
been eradicated from our society,'' Jacques said.
Prosecutors say alleged Wakefield gunman Michael McDermott was armed with an AK-47
assault rifle, a .40-caliber rifle, and a 12-gauge shotgun that were between 10 and 20 years old.
He also had a .32-caliber handgun that is at least 50 years old, prosecutors say. Officials have
not identified any gun laws that McDermott is suspected of violating.
Jacques and Representative David P. Linsky, a Natick Democrat, said they expect a measure that
would force gun manufacturers to register their products' ''ballistic fingerprints'' and another that
would limit gun purchases to one per person every 30 days to pass this term.
Substantial support exists, Jacques said, for a recently filed third bill that would close what
advocates see as a loophole that allows assault weapons legally owned before Sept. 13, 1994, to
be sold in Massachusetts. It's not clear that the loophole contributed in any way to McDermott's
possession of a semi-automatic weapon.
Linsky predicted two other bills he recently filed, one to further restrict licenses to carry
firearms and another to codify existing regulations, would face more resistance.
A group of gun owners, meanwhile, met yesterday with Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift to call
for a commission to study the Wakefield shooting and prevent what one advocate called
''politically correct or hollow responses.''
John Birtwell, a spokesman for Swift and Governor Paul Cellucci, described the sit-down with
Swift as a ''courtesy meeting'' and said Cellucci will consider whether an investigatory
commission is appropriate and if it would interfere with the criminal probe.
This story ran on page B3 of the Boston Globe on 1/26/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/026/metro/New_bills_are_eyed_on_gun_control+.shtml
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff, 1/26/2001
month after a massacre at a Wakefield office, two gun-control advocates in the
Legislature said they see growing momentum to pass several bills that would make the
state's toughest-in-the-nation gun laws even stricter.
The rampage that took the lives of seven Edgewater Technology Inc. workers Dec. 26 has
brought new urgency to the effort to win passage of gun-control bills, said Senator Cheryl A.
Jacques, a Needham Democrat who has pushed for more stringent gun laws.
''Any time there's a tragedy like Wakefield, it focuses people back on a problem that just hasn't
been eradicated from our society,'' Jacques said.
Prosecutors say alleged Wakefield gunman Michael McDermott was armed with an AK-47
assault rifle, a .40-caliber rifle, and a 12-gauge shotgun that were between 10 and 20 years old.
He also had a .32-caliber handgun that is at least 50 years old, prosecutors say. Officials have
not identified any gun laws that McDermott is suspected of violating.
Jacques and Representative David P. Linsky, a Natick Democrat, said they expect a measure that
would force gun manufacturers to register their products' ''ballistic fingerprints'' and another that
would limit gun purchases to one per person every 30 days to pass this term.
Substantial support exists, Jacques said, for a recently filed third bill that would close what
advocates see as a loophole that allows assault weapons legally owned before Sept. 13, 1994, to
be sold in Massachusetts. It's not clear that the loophole contributed in any way to McDermott's
possession of a semi-automatic weapon.
Linsky predicted two other bills he recently filed, one to further restrict licenses to carry
firearms and another to codify existing regulations, would face more resistance.
A group of gun owners, meanwhile, met yesterday with Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift to call
for a commission to study the Wakefield shooting and prevent what one advocate called
''politically correct or hollow responses.''
John Birtwell, a spokesman for Swift and Governor Paul Cellucci, described the sit-down with
Swift as a ''courtesy meeting'' and said Cellucci will consider whether an investigatory
commission is appropriate and if it would interfere with the criminal probe.
This story ran on page B3 of the Boston Globe on 1/26/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/026/metro/New_bills_are_eyed_on_gun_control+.shtml
