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Romney, O'Brien open to gun shift
Josey1
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Romney, O'Brien open to gun shift
By Chris Tangney, Globe Correspondent, 7/17/2002
ubernatorial front-runners Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Shannon P. O'Brien yesterday left the door open to relaxing Massachusetts' tough gun control laws as rival candidates spoke out harshly against any kind of pro-gun measures.
Guns suddenly became a campaign issue last week after the state House overwhelmingly passed a measure that would eliminate a lifetime ban on gun ownership for some people convicted of violent crimes. Even though the Senate is not expected to back the bill, it provoked a backlash of criticism from anti-gun activists, who cited a wave of violent crime in Boston.
As most other candidates quickly sided with anti-gun groups, Romney said in a statement he would ''work to find a compromise.'' Gun rights activists say the state's blanket ban prevents citizens who had scrapes with the law many years ago from hunting or pursuing careers in law enforcement.
''We understand where they're trying to get,'' said Romney's deputy campaign manager Eric Fehrnstrom. ''If, after negotiating with the interested parties, there is consensus that this should happen, we would work on a much more narrow proposal.''
Both Romney and O'Brien criticized the House measure as being too broad and having loopholes that could put guns in the hands of the wrong people. But each said they would give gun activists a sympathetic ear.
''If law enforcement or sportsmen have concerns, or believe there are serious flaws in the gun control laws, she'll listen,'' said O'Brien press secretary Adrian Durbin.
Both candidates declined to strongly endorse any revision of current gun laws. Four other gubernatorial candidates have come out in strong opposition to any changes in the state's Gun Control Act of 1998, a set of sweeping reforms that became known as some of the toughest in the nation.
Democrats Robert Reich and Warren Tolman and Green Party candidate Jill Stein all decried the bill as a step in the wrong direction, saying that the state'e resources should be spent on getting illegal weapons off the street. Stein alluded to the need for more rehabilitation programs for violent offenders, including job trainning and affordable housing.
''The priorities on Beacon Hill are incredibly misplaced,'' said Stein. ''Let's get former offenders jobs, not guns.''
Last week, Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, also a Democratic candidate for governor, spoke out harshly against liberalizing gun laws.
''We certainly did intend to make it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for those convicted of violent crime, or domestic abuse, to get a gun,'' Birmingham said of the 1998 laws.
Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Carla Howell yesterday said the House didn't go far enough. She said the state should repeal ''every anti-gun freedom law and restriction on the books.''
This story ran on page B4 of the Boston Globe on 7/17/2002.
c Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
[ Send this story to a friend | Easy-print version | Search archives ]
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/198/metro/Romney_O_Brien_open_to_gun_shift+.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Chris Tangney, Globe Correspondent, 7/17/2002
ubernatorial front-runners Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Shannon P. O'Brien yesterday left the door open to relaxing Massachusetts' tough gun control laws as rival candidates spoke out harshly against any kind of pro-gun measures.
Guns suddenly became a campaign issue last week after the state House overwhelmingly passed a measure that would eliminate a lifetime ban on gun ownership for some people convicted of violent crimes. Even though the Senate is not expected to back the bill, it provoked a backlash of criticism from anti-gun activists, who cited a wave of violent crime in Boston.
As most other candidates quickly sided with anti-gun groups, Romney said in a statement he would ''work to find a compromise.'' Gun rights activists say the state's blanket ban prevents citizens who had scrapes with the law many years ago from hunting or pursuing careers in law enforcement.
''We understand where they're trying to get,'' said Romney's deputy campaign manager Eric Fehrnstrom. ''If, after negotiating with the interested parties, there is consensus that this should happen, we would work on a much more narrow proposal.''
Both Romney and O'Brien criticized the House measure as being too broad and having loopholes that could put guns in the hands of the wrong people. But each said they would give gun activists a sympathetic ear.
''If law enforcement or sportsmen have concerns, or believe there are serious flaws in the gun control laws, she'll listen,'' said O'Brien press secretary Adrian Durbin.
Both candidates declined to strongly endorse any revision of current gun laws. Four other gubernatorial candidates have come out in strong opposition to any changes in the state's Gun Control Act of 1998, a set of sweeping reforms that became known as some of the toughest in the nation.
Democrats Robert Reich and Warren Tolman and Green Party candidate Jill Stein all decried the bill as a step in the wrong direction, saying that the state'e resources should be spent on getting illegal weapons off the street. Stein alluded to the need for more rehabilitation programs for violent offenders, including job trainning and affordable housing.
''The priorities on Beacon Hill are incredibly misplaced,'' said Stein. ''Let's get former offenders jobs, not guns.''
Last week, Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, also a Democratic candidate for governor, spoke out harshly against liberalizing gun laws.
''We certainly did intend to make it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for those convicted of violent crime, or domestic abuse, to get a gun,'' Birmingham said of the 1998 laws.
Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Carla Howell yesterday said the House didn't go far enough. She said the state should repeal ''every anti-gun freedom law and restriction on the books.''
This story ran on page B4 of the Boston Globe on 7/17/2002.
c Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
[ Send this story to a friend | Easy-print version | Search archives ]
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/198/metro/Romney_O_Brien_open_to_gun_shift+.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878