Council calls for stricter machete regulations

The Boston City Council discussed an ordinance that would prohibit the transport of machetes in the city of Boston at a meeting thursday afternoon, addressing what they say has become a real threat.
Councilors Mike Ross (Back Bay, Fenway, Kenmore) and Chuck Turner (East Boston) introduced the ordinance in response to the recent surge in machete attacks in the Boston area.
In one particularly daring attack, a machete was used on a Boston man in broad daylight outside the Government Center MBTA station March 13, according to city documents.
Turner said the ordinance clearly defines a machete as a ‘heavy knife at least 18 inches in length and having a blade at least 1.5 inches wide at its broadest measurement.’
The ordinance would put ‘another tool in the hands of the police department,’ Turner said.
There is no current legislation in Boston regulating the transport of machetes, which are one of the easiest weapons to obtain, according to the ordinance.
Boston Fire Department Sgt. Joseph Fiandaca spoke in favor of the ordinance and said machetes are gang members’ weapon of choice. There have been 650 incidents in Boston involving machetes since 2001, he said.
Boston would join Chelsea, Everett, Lynn and Revere in banning machetes, according to the ordinance.
Fiandaca said if the ordinance passes, a person found with a machete would be arrested without warning.
‘We’re not looking to put people in jail, but we want to make it clear that we can’t have people out on the streets with weapons,’ Fiandaca said.
Ross said the ordinance would not apply to people carrying machetes for the purpose of cutting vegetation.
‘I think it will be fairly clear to tell who is going back and forth clear cutting a farm and those with malice on the mind,’ Ross said. ‘I don’t think we’ll have a problem with that.’