Students from across Massachusetts walked out of class (or, if they had a snow day, out of their homes) to march to the State House to demand action on gun violence.
According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Massachusetts has some of the strongest gun laws in the country and, correspondingly, one of the lowest gun death rates. And we should be proud of that. But the question isn’t whether we’re doing better than other states — it’s whether we’re doing as best as we can. And there, the answer is a clear no.
The Massachusetts Legislature, however, has the opportunity to strengthen our gun laws this session, although time is short.
H.3610 would create an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO), a kind of court order that family members and law enforcement can request to temporarily restrict a person’s access to guns because they pose a significant danger to themselves or others. When family members are empowered to act, they can prevent warning signs from turning into a mass shooting or gun suicide.
Our neighbors in Connecticut have already passed such a bill into law, and legislation is moving forward in New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine as well.
Call or email your legislators today to ask them to co-sponsor the bill and then contact their colleagues of the Joint Committee on Public Safety & Homeland Security and ask them to move the bill out of Committee.
And if you’re planning to go to the March for Our Lives on the Boston Common on Saturday, March 24th, RSVP here so that you can connect with us when there.
