A Special Report Concerning the Tragedy Caused by Gun Control in Massachusetts

In 1998 the Massachusetts legislature passed into law what can only be described as the “Worst in the Nation” gun laws. These laws included many new restrictions on gun ownership including absurd new regulations and statutes on what lawful gun owners can own or buy. The proponents of these new laws passed off this legislation as a “reasonable” means to prevent violent gun crime.

Many anti-civil rights groups and individuals are still celebrating the passage of these laws and the decrease in licensed gun owners as a result of them. However, these same people are not aware of or willing to admit the truth concerning the rise in gun violence since the 1998 laws were passed.

Several anti-civil rights leaders who are aware of the tragic failure of these laws are still struggling to maintain an image of success. They do this by continually stating that these laws have led to Massachusetts having the lowest gun deaths per 100,000 in the country. In fact one such person actually states in his bio that he: “…has played a pivotal role in the successful gun violence prevention efforts in the City of Boston as well as in helping Massachusetts become the state with the lowest firearm fatality rate per hundred thousand population in the Nation.”

While that particular statistic may or may not be true, it does not represent the real truth. In order to truly represent the success, or tragic failure, of the 1998 gun laws we must compare Massachusetts to itself. That is where we find the inconvenient truth.

According to the most up to date reports released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/injury_surveillance/wriss_gunshot_sharp_94_06.pdf  the inconvenient truth is that the 1998 Massachusetts gun laws were not only a tragic failure, they were a deadly one.

** This report only dates back to 1999

*** This report only dates back to 2001

This inconvenient truth should be spread nationwide. Proponents of the failed social experiment in Massachusetts are, right now, trying to convince the rest of the nation to adopt our state’s gun laws. They still maintain that they have “led” the nation on sensible gun violence prevention laws. Gun owners and non-gun owners alike must now join together to see that it does not happen.

While the proponents of these laws might never admit the inconvenient truth, the rest of us must. We must also alert others across the nation about the tragedy that has taken place here. It is up to all of us to make sure that other states do not repeat the tragic mistakes made here in Massachusetts.

We here in Massachusetts must also work to undo the mistakes and immediately begin repealing and rewriting the state’s gun laws. These new laws must be gun owner friendly and criminal tough. GOAL looks forward to every concerned citizen and legislator who wants to join the ranks of those who have come to know the inconvenient truth and correct this historical blunder.