State Leaders, Advocates Convene around Gun Violence.
The data are clear: Gun violence remains a uniquely American epidemic. But among the roughly 100 firearm-related deaths that occur nationwide each day, Massachusetts boasts the lowest gun death rate in the continental United States year after year.
On Monday, March 11, the School of Public Health convened Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Attorney General Maura Healey, and Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo for the Dean’s Seminar “Tackling Gun Violence,” a robust conversation on the Commonwealth’s unprecedented success with bipartisan gun safety legislation and the policy changes still needed to create safer environments in all US communities.
Cohosted by WBUR CitySpace and the Boston Globe, the panel also featured Stop Handgun Violence cofounder John Rosenthal, Boston Globe columnist Nestor Ramos, Marjory Stoneman Douglas Parkland High School shooting survivor Sam Zeif, and Dean Sandro Galea, and was moderated by WBUR senior correspondent Deborah Becker.
Over the two-hour discussion, the panelists examined the steps and strategies that state policymakers and activists have embraced to lead the nation in enacting sensible gun policies. At 3.7 deaths per 100,000 people, the current gun death rate in Massachusetts is six times lower than it is in Alabama, the state with the highest rate.
“Massachusetts has enacted a rich network of provision, laws, policies, and guidances that collectively lower the risk of guns causing death,” Dean Galea said. But he noted it is difficult to pinpoint any one policy or action that can be broadly attributed to a reduction in gun deaths, because the effects of policy changes “vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.”
Since Rosenthal cofounded Stop Handgun Violence in 1994, the gun safety advocacy organization has paved the way for stricter gun control laws and regulations, including renewable licensing and registration of firearms, criminal background checks for private sales, safe storage-child access prevention laws, and a permanent ban on military-style assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.
Rosenthal, a gun owner himself, said the organization’s leaders achieved these goals by making it clear to other gun owners they had no intention of banning most weapons.
“We’re an urban state with the lowest gun death rate in the nation, and we’ve proven the NRA’s worst nightmare—that gun laws save lives and you don’t have to ban most guns in order to do it,” Rosenthal said.
Despite the progress that Massachusetts has made, Governor Baker stressed the need for continued research on gun violence that can lead to effective policy related to the racial disparities that exist among gun violence victims, as well as adequate mental health services for schools and communities.
“One of the biggest problems we have with a lot of issues around gun violence is the lack of data that’s available,” Baker said. “One of the things that’s proven over time is that you can use data to improve policy.”
In particular, Baker said more research was needed to understand the number of guns illegally trafficked across state lines—a particular issue for Massachusetts, where neighboring states such as Vermont and New Hampshire have fewer regulations on background checks and bump stock purchases.
Speaker DeLeo underlined that researchers and policymakers need to look beyond mainstream coverage of mass shootings and focus on the shootings that occur every day, especially in communities of color.
“We need to examine the root causes of gun violence in order to expand our prevention efforts and address the disproportionate number of people of color who are affected, as well as socioeconomic inequities and behavioral health,” DeLeo said.
Monica Cannon-Grant, CEO of Violence in Boston, drew cheers when she interrupted the panel to protest the lack of priority paid to shootings in communities of color. “You need to talk to the people closest to the problem,” Cannon-Grant said. “None of you dodge bullets for a living.” Decker then invited Cannon-Grant to join the panel.
“There’s a missing piece to this conversation,” said Cannon-Grant once she sat onstage. “This is not an either/or—this is an and/also.”
Almost every speaker criticized the NRA and their pro-gun lobbying power over US Congress members.
Ultimately, gun violence “is a political issue, and Congress doesn’t always work on behalf of the people who elected them,” said Healey, who noted that as a result of massive public protests by groups such as the March for Our Lives Movement, NRA contributions to candidates have finally decreased. “Make people take the votes, and then you can give them the support.”
Zeif’s best friend, Joaquin Oliver, was killed in the Parkland shooting. Zeif said he believes Oliver would be alive today had he gone to school in Massachusetts due to the Commonwealth’s “common-sense policies and laws” such as the ban on military-style assault weapons. “I don’t know why rest of country isn’t on the same page,” he said. “There’s a lot more to be done, but you guys have the right mind.”
Ramos said the best thing Massachusetts can do is convince other states to adopt similar policies— but noted that Massachusetts’ low gun death rate “is not all about laws.”
“We have a lot of cultural advantages and healthcare advantages,” Ramos said, expanding upon Galea’s earlier points. “Our gun ownership rates and suicide rates are much lower, for reasons that have little to do with laws.”
During the Q&A, several audience members, including teenagers from the Center for Teen Empowerment, called on the panelists to focus “less on the guns, and more on the people.”
“Guns are objects, and we can’t really change objects,” said 16-year-old Gabriel Petit. “It’s the person we can change.”