BOSTON -- There are more illegal guns on the city's streets now than at any time in at least six years, and many of the guns are being brought into the city from northern New England, authorities say.
The number of seized firearms was up 34 percent through Nov. 12, compared with the same period last year, The Boston Globe reported. Through Nov. 16, the number of firearms-related arrests rose by 39 percent.
Also through Nov. 16, there were 40 firearms homicides and 262 nonfatal shootings recorded citywide.
"Massachusetts has excellent gun laws," Larry Mayes, the city's chief of human services, told the newspaper in an interview published Friday. "But ... if the neighboring states around us are lax, then we need to look at some strategies to strengthen our state borders."
In previous years, people trying to circumvent Bay State laws that required a state permit to buy a handgun would travel to North Carolina or Georgia. However, in the past six months, police have recovered more and more weapons from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, said Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
Menino wants to hold a round-table discussion with other big city mayors in Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks to work on solutions to the firearms problem. Menino said he also is planning to contact mayors in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to exchange information on the illegal gun trafficking.
No official statistics are available on how many guns are coming from northern New England. Police said they still are trying to understand how the weapons arrive on the street, and why many are coming from there.
It is against the law for a Massachusetts resident to buy a gun out of state, then return with it. However, a buyer can circumvent the law by going through a "straw purchaser" - a resident of Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont who can easily purchase guns from a dealer, then sell or give the guns away, said Daniel Kumor, the agent in charge of the Boston office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
As in Boston, Hartford, Conn., police say that in the past year, police have noticed that more guns on the streets were obtained in New Hampshire, said Matt Hennessy, chief of staff for Mayor Eddie A. Perez.
Law enforcement officials in northern New England said their looser restrictions may lead to an influx of guns in cities like Boston and Hartford. But Police Chief Jerry Madden of the Concord Police Department in New Hampshire said tightening gun laws to stop the flow would be difficult because of strong lobbying from groups that advocate the right to bear arms.
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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