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City to work with gun licensees, vendors to curb gun violence

 

The Mayor’s office and Boston Police Department Commissioner William Evans will work to control gun violence by engaging with gun owners. PHOTO COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The Mayor’s office and Boston Police Department Commissioner William Evans will work to control gun violence by engaging with gun owners. PHOTO COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh and Boston Police Department Commissioner William Evans announced new steps Wednesday to curb gun violence and increase public safety by engaging with gun sellers and licensers.

Steps will include writing to gun licensers, surveying the vendor community about safety and holding a regional gun summit this fall in order to discuss best practices to avoid gun violence, according to a Wednesday press release.

“Without better enforcement and education, we’re letting things slip through the cracks and legally purchased firearms are falling into the hands of criminals,” Evans said in the release. “In 2014 and 2015, the Boston Police Department has recovered 1,500 guns from the streets of Boston, and will continue to combat gun violence by using proactive, targeted enforcement.”

Boston has seen a 30 percent decrease in gun homicides this year, but has seen an increase in non-fatal shootings, according to the release.

Walsh expressed the need for new thinking in order to increase public safety and make families feel safe in their own neighborhoods.

“We must think creatively in order to reduce the amount of illegal guns and violence on our streets,” Walsh said in the release. “Last year, the [Massachusetts] Legislature took real steps to strengthen our gun control laws, and I look forward to continuing to work with our government and community partners to create neighborhoods where all of our families can feel safe.”

The initiative is not the first to tackle gun violence in recent years. In March 2014, the city launched the Your Piece For Peace gun buyback program following the death of a Mattapan child. A year later, the city reinstated the program due to another wave of gun violence.

Glenn Pierce, principal research scientist at the Northeastern University School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, described how Boston is already fairly low in crime because of similar efforts by the police department and local government.

“Boston has generally lower crime rates than other cities of its size,” Pierce said. “The police department and the city have been innovative and successful to prevent gun violence and focus on high-risk offenders and figuring out when there are potential conflicts.”

Pierce added that even though it is impossible to immediately reduce gun violence, Boston is continuously making strides to improve the situation.

“You’re not going to solve the problem in one fell swoop, obviously,” Pierce said. “Boston has had a history of taking steps and in the long run. We have had a history of being fairly successful. If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward, so this is one more step of what’s been a good record for the mayor and for the police commissioner.”

Several residents agreed that the efforts to increase public safety are going well.

Christine Gannon, 31, of the North End, said she has faith in the leadership of the city.

“The mayor and the police commissioner are doing a great job,” she said. “I feel really safe walking through the streets of Boston and I know that they are consistently working to make it even safer, so I’m glad they’re trying to decrease gun violence.”

Benjamin George, 28, of Allston, said he is relieved that Boston is taking steps to fix a problem that is very prevalent in bigger cities.

“Gun violence is always going to be a problem in big cities, maybe because of population size and wealth concentration,” George said. “But I’m glad that the mayor and police commissioner are doing this. It makes me feel like they’re really trying to make living here safer.”

Daniel Meegan, 43, of Brighton, said any steps taken against gun violence are positive, but he wasn’t sure how much could be done about illegal guns.

“I think that it’s great that they’re trying and I’m sure it will have a positive impact on the city,” he said. “I’m just not sure whether or not they can do much about people getting guns illegally. This is a good effort, [but] I guess I just want to see what happens in the future with it.”

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