Good response from NH to MA about gun blame

[Manedwolf]

From the Manchester Union-Leader

Gun crime in Boston? Just blame northern New England

Sunday, Dec. 4, 2005

SHOOTINGS in Boston are up 28 percent over last year, The Boston Globe reported last week. One culprit the Globe singled out: New Hampshire gun laws.

The paper noted that police have traced some guns to "New Hampshire and Vermont, where firearms laws are less strict and easy for criminals to manipulate."

Or, to put it another way, they have traced guns to New Hampshire and Vermont, where firearms laws are less strict and citizens have an easier time obtaining guns for self-defense. If our firearms laws are the cause of high gun crime, then why is most of the crime in Boston?

Boston mayor Thomas Menino professes to be angered by the guns coming into his city and wants to meet with regional and national officials to "stop the flow of guns across state borders," according to the Globe. That, of course, is impossible, but no doubt the mayor will try anyway. It beats taking responsibility for controlling crime in his own city.

We can sympathize with frustrated Boston residents whose neighborhoods are terrorized by criminals bringing danger from out of state. Why, right here in New Hampshire we are witnessing an explosion in crimes fueled by heroin addiction. Dominican gangs based in Massachusetts are the predominant suppliers of heroin to New Hampshire, according to federal officials. Where are the Bay State officials outraged about drug dealers crossing state borders?

In New Hampshire, we realize that citizens having ready access to guns is beneficial, as national data show that guns are used more often for defensive than offensive purposes. If Mayor Menino were to succeed in preventing guns from crossing state lines, he would effectively disarm many Massachusetts residents, thus making them more vulnerable to criminals. Just because a gun crossed a state line does not mean a criminal carried it over for criminal purposes.

If Boston leaders really want to reduce gun-related crimes in their city, we have a suggestion. Forget the guns; catch and lock up the criminals. The guns aren't going to go out on the streets and shoot by themselves.

Perhaps New Hampshire can help out, though. We could make a deal. We'll keep all our guns if Massachusetts keeps all its drug dealers.

What's your opinion? E-mail us at [email protected].

 

[R-Tex12]

Great response! Hey, Boston:

 

[makanut]

What? You mean we should be blaming criminals for Boston's crime problem? That makes too much sense. Oh, that's right, we're not trying to make any sense, we're just attempting to curtail/eliminate the rights of honest, hard working, tax paying citizens. After all, the 2nd ammendment is just for the National Guard.

 

[ZenMasterJG]

Man do i love NH.
As i posted in another thread earlier today:
anyone in a gun-friendly state (or darn near anywhere that isnt MA) that needs to hire an expirianced computer scientist, feel free to email me for my resume and references.

 

[Old Dog]

Are all the editorials in NH newspapers usually laced with that much common sense? I'm duly impressed.

 

[Lupinus]

If NH wasn't so cold I'd move there

Why can't a nice warm southern state be that smart. Oh well....its comin

 

[Devonai]

New Hampshire Attorney General Fires Back

http://www.unionleader.com/article....rticleId=1a1af9b3-52a7-4dee-aa00-c86da463986f

NH returns fire on 'myth' about Mass. gun violence
The Associated Press
17 hours, 33 minutes ago

Concord — The U.S. attorney for New Hampshire is firing back against charges that lax gun control laws in northern New England are partly responsible for an increase in gun crimes in Boston.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Colantuono told Foster's Sunday Citizen that's an "urban myth" that doesn't stand up to the facts.

Data collected by the federal "Project Safe Neighborhoods" show that most of the guns used in Massachusetts crimes come from within that state, Colantuono said. The data also show that fewer than 10 percent of the guns used in Massachusetts crimes come from New Hampshire; instead, Georgia is the top source of out-of-state guns.

Also, many of the guns traced back to New Hampshire were sold several years ago, belying Boston officials' claims that New Hampshire guns are contributing to a recent surge in shootings and other gun crimes, he said.

Guns seized

Boston officials recently reported that the number of guns they had seized was up 34 percent and the number of gun-related arrests increased 39 percent through early November, compared to the same period a year earlier.

A Boston Police spokesman, Sgt. Thomas Sexton, said stricter gun laws in northern New England would help solve the problem. Massachusetts requires residents to pay $100 for a state permit when buying any gun; New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont do not require state permits.

While some guns used in Massachusetts crimes still come from the South and the West Coast, city police are finding more guns "coming from a lot closer to home," Sexton said.

The Rev. Bruce Wall, who lives in Boston and owns a summer home in New Hampshire, said Boston Police told him and other religious leaders this summer of a New Hampshire-to-Boston gun corridor.

Wall said he discussed the issue recently with New Hampton police Chief Nathaniel Sawyer, president of the state's Association of Chiefs of Police, and hopes to meet with the full association and state legislators next month to ask for stricter gun control laws.

Laws called strict

Sam Cohen, a director of Gun Owners of New Hampshire, the state chapter of the National Rifle Association, said New Hampshire's laws are strict enough already.

Gun dealers must follow the gun laws of a buyer's home state, and dealers at both gun stores and gun shows must perform background checks on their customers, he said.

Ralph Demicco, co-owner of Riley's Sport Shop in Hooksett, said federal law forbids people to buy handguns outside their home states, although that doesn't apply to rifles. Gun dealers also are trained to look out for "straw purchases" by state residents who buy large numbers of guns, then resell them, he said.

Some cases show how criminals can get around those requirements, however. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston charged Michael Fowler, 34, of Lynn, Mass., with gun trafficking last year and said he bought 24 guns — 18 in Maine and six in New Hampshire — from legal gun owners who advertised in local publications. He was accused of reselling them for profit in Massachusetts.

Agent Jim McNally, of the Boston office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said agency policy prohibits disclosure of the number of weapons seized in southern New England states that were traced to New Hampshire, Maine or Vermont.

Wall said it would be helpful if northern New England gun sellers were required to file detailed sales documents with the gun's serial number. But he realizes it will be difficult to get stricter laws.

"I don't think anybody wants to rattle this cage," he said.

Gov. John Lynch "does not believe we need any changes in our gun laws in New Hampshire," but would be willing to talk with Massachusetts officials and federal agents about better enforcement, said his spokesman, Pamela Walsh.

Sexton said Boston police don't believe there's any magic bullet that will solve the problem.

"We're not trying to point the finger at anybody," he said. "We're trying to stem firearms violence in the city of Boston."

 

[IndianaDean]

Let's give Massachusetts back to England.

 

[Crosshair]

Let's give Massachusetts back to England.

Not a bad idea, then we can take it over again and install a new state government.