MA.;Goal, lawmakers criticize bill to publicize gun owners' personal info

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Goal, lawmakers criticize bill to publicize gun owners' personal info By Elisabeth J. BeardsleyState House News ServiceSTATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MAY 21, 2001...Fearing "persecution" and heightened potential for robbery, gun rights advocates and lawmakers balked today at a proposal to publicize the names and addresses of firearms owners.Rep. Michael Festa (D-Melrose) filed the bill, which would repeal the existing statute that exempts from the public records law the names and addresses of people who possess either a license to carry a firearm or a firearm identification card. The bill (H 1681) would also publicize the names and addresses of people involved with sales or transfer of firearms, rifles, shotguns, machine guns or ammunition. Parents have a right to know if their children are playing in households that contain firearms, Festa told the State Administration Committee. But he said it's "unrealistic" to expect people to query their neighbors, and suggested that police chiefs be in charge of informing the community. "There's no way for them to know that except confronting that neighbor," Festa said. "Quite plainly, I think that's an unrealistic expectation." The Gun Owners Action League opposed the bill. Publicly pinpointing a gun's location places its owner at risk of a break-in, while exposing others as unarmed, said GOAL legislative agent James Wallace. While targeting licensed gun owners - the "most checked" people in the state in terms of criminal background - the bill does nothing to crack down on criminals who possess guns illegally, he said. "I believe we're heading down a very dangerous road," Wallace said. Acknowledging that gun owners' concerns are "not misplaced," Festa said he envisions a system of "limited access." Information-seekers would have to go to the local police station, submit to a criminal background check, and give their names and addresses for record-keeping purposes, Festa said. "Maybe at first blush this bill looks more radical than it was intended," Festa said. "At the same time, I think there ought to be some reasoned exception." But the bill, as drafted, contains no restrictions on public access, which was the case until the early 1980s, when The Boston Globe threatened to publish the names and addresses of every gun owner in the state, Wallace said. The public safety implications left lawmakers "very concerned," and an exemption bill was filed, whipped through the Legislature and signed into law in 17 hours, he said. "People from both sides realized that not only are you putting gun owners at potential risk and persecution, but you have now also published a list of those who are unarmed, giving potential criminals a handy list," Wallace said. Some committee members seemed unsettled by the bill. Rep. Paul Tirone (D-Amesbury) said the phrase "limited access" sounds "great," but he said there's "no such thing" once the information is out. "Loose lips sink ships," Tirone said. "Something said in passing gets passed on and passed on and passed on. At that point, then it becomes exponential." Festa replied: "I'm not so sure that's a bad thing." He said he has a hard time envisioning housewives using such information for "nefarious" ends. Committee member Rep. Ruth Provost (D-Sandwich) expressed concern that the bill would try to solve one public safety issue by creating another. She suggested that if a parent warns a young child to stay away from a certain house because it contains guns, that child might experience the "temptation" later to get into the house and steal the weapons. "You're making more citizens vulnerable to public safety risks," Provost said. After the hearing, State Administration Committee Chairman Geoffrey Hall (D-Westford) had no comment. http://www.massbar.org/article.php?sid=20010522080123