State House News Service 

September 14, 1999--Shaken by last month's shooting attack by white supremacist Buford Furrow Jr. on dozens of children at a California community center, Jewish leaders are calling on Congress to pass gun control laws based on legislation approved in Massachusetts last year. 

A dozen Jewish community leaders and legislators held a press conference on the State House steps today to kick off a drive to collect 1 million signatures supporting federal restrictions on guns.  Event sponsors said the shootings at a Jewish community center spurred them to act. 

"The Jewish community got a wakeup call in California," said Charles Glick, government affairs director for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Massachusetts.  "Like everybody, you come out in force when it's your family.  It hit our family a few weeks ago in California." 

The American Jewish Congress sponsored today's event, and nine others like it nationwide.  The AJC wants Congress to pass gun restrictions that include: registration of individual guns and owners, better background checks, gun safety tests and safety devices like trigger locks.  The 1998 Massachusetts gun control law includes many of those provisions. 

"A whole world is destroyed when a person is killed," said Rabbi Samuel Chiel of Temple Emanuel in Newton.  "We're no longer going to accept the wholesale slaughter of innocent people.  We're here to save lives." 

Senate President Thomas Birmingham told the audience the Bay State's law is "rational, sane" legislation that protects children while maintaining individuals' rights to bear arms. He was joined at the event by Sen. Cheryl Jacques (D-Needham) and Rep. Paul Casey (D-Winchester). 

"In the wake of the shocking tragedies that have occurred ...  it has become increasingly clear to an outraged public that strict gun control laws are vitally important to win the battle against crime," Casey said. "For the time being, responsibility lies with the individual states while a divided Congress fails to pass meaningful gun control legislation.  Excuses do not save lives." 

Added Birmingham: "Leading the nation on the issue of gun control is not an emblem of shame but a badge of honor." 

The Massachusetts gun law requires that guns be locked in safes or have trigger locks installed when being stored or transported.  The law also codified the federal ban on assault weapons and allowed police chiefs to use their discretion when giving out licenses for large-capacity weapons. 

Jacques assured community leaders that she, Birmingham and Casey would be on guard against the gun lobby's efforts to make what she said are commonly described as "technical corrections" but are actually provisions aimed at gutting the law. 

Suffolk County District Attorney Ralph Martin said the new state law has been effective, but called for a national effort to restrict the migration of guns from legal dealers into the hands of criminals.  Martin, a Republican, also criticized the national GOP for failing to recognize that most people want some type of gun controls. 

"I'm prepared to recognize that the right to bear arms is not an unfettered right," Martin said.  "The main thing is to make it harder for criminals to get guns." 
 

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