Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security Advances Life-Saving Ghost Guns Legislation; Massachusetts Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Respond

The Massachusetts chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots networks, released the following statement applauding legislators on the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security for issuing a favorable report for  H.4869, a bill to prohibit the sale and possession of ghost guns in the Commonwealth, and address emerging technologies including 3D-printed firearms. The bill has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. 

“Massachusetts has some of the strongest gun laws in the country, and it’s time we further strengthen them by addressing ghost guns,” Rina Schneur, a volunteer with the Massachusetts chapter of Moms Demand Action. “These dangerous, untraceable firearms pose an enormous threat to the safety of the Commonwealth. We are thankful to Chairman Gonzalez, Chairman Timilty, Representatives Linsky and Decker, and other gun sense champions on the Public Safety Committee for their critical work on this important legislation to make Massachusetts a safer place to live.”

This bill comes as Massachusetts continues to see an increasing trend of ghost guns used and recovered in Massachusetts communities. Instances this year alone include: 

• In May, police searching a Dorchester apartment as part of a drug investigation found hundreds of rounds of ammunition, drugs, a 3D printer, and other evidence of a “ghost gun”-making operation, including a number of partially completed firearms. 
• In April, a man in Barnstable was convicted of selling ghost guns in 2020. The guns were sold from his truck during covert dealings in the parking lot of a Cape Cod shopping center.
• In January, three Springfield men were arrested for possession of firearms, including a ghost gun. The guns were discovered during a traffic stop.

In an average year in Massachusetts, 255 people die by guns and 688 people are wounded. Gun violence costs Maryland $1.8 billion each year, of which $92.2 million is paid by taxpayers. More information on gun violence in Massachusetts is available here.