(MassLive- Jeannette DeForge) An amendment to a bill before lawmakers will order judges to keep repeat firearms laws offenders behind bars, addressing concerns from police, politicians and the public.
State Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, a member of the Criminal Justice Committee, recently filed an amendment to a gun bill that is now being debated. It has been passed by the Senate and endorsed by the Springfield City Council. A compromise bill is before the House and Senate.
The amendment requires anyone who commits a firearms offense while already on bail on a previous gun charge or violent offense to be held behind bars until their trial.
“I wanted it to be airtight. Unless you are from a different planet, it is hard to defend not supporting it,” Velis said. “We put our law enforcement in dangerous situations over and over again and they are seeing repeat violent offenders back on the street. Some people should not be back on the street.”
For anyone who questions the bill, Velis refers them to the Oct. 4 noontime shooting in Holyoke where a stray bullet from a gun battle between three people struck an 8-months pregnant woman riding by on a bus, killing the infant. At least one of the three men arrested was out on bail for a previous gun crime.
But Velis agreed it can be an uphill battle to get even something as seemingly logical as his amendment passed because some legislators don’t see gun violence in wealthy communities.
They don’t talk to the mother who never saw her baby, Ezekiel, take his first breath after she was shot in Holyoke. They don’t talk to the Springfield police officer who lost his sight in a June 5 shooting. And they don’t talk to residents who had windows broken from one of the 4,141 shell casings found in 2023 in Springfield.
“I would expect to hear that number in Afghanistan or Gaza and it is frightening,” said Velis, a major in the Army National Guard.
There have been discussions among legislators from liberal communities about raising the age of responsibility to as old as 25. While Velis said he understands the research on brain development, he said victims need to be remembered.
Laws to combat crime need to be passed but they also need to be carefully crafted to ensure they do not infringe on constitutional rights, said state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, D-Springfield, chairman of the legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Safety.
“We need to protect law enforcement and support them and challenge the court system when appropriate,” he said.
Law enforcement also has to track the guns better and hold the original owners responsible. The state has some of the strictest gun laws, so Gonzalez said he wants to know how so many end up in the neighborhoods he represents.