On May 31, 11 people were killed when a man opened fire in a municipal government building in Virginia Beach. Two days later, last Sunday, Islanders gathered for a forum at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center to discuss gun violence. The timing was a coincidence, though with the frequency of shootings, the coincidence felt less remarkable.
“Very sadly, this is all too timely,” said Rabbi Caryn Broitman, who moderated. But she made it clear that the forum would not be a political debate. The panel included three gun owners in addition to gun safety activists.
“We are engaged in a discussion of public health and how to save lives,” Ms. Broitman said. “This is not a partisan gathering.”
According to Janet Goldenberg, who leads the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence and was the panel’s keynote speaker, there are an estimated 300 million guns in the United States. There is a gun in 35 per cent of U.S. households. Some 35,000 people die annually from gun wounds, and suicides far outnumber homicides, she said during her opening remarks.
Ms. Goldenberg then took the audience through various gun legislations at work in the country, and in Massachusetts specifically, where she said a stricter licensing system and oversight have resulted in a much lower rate of gun deaths at 3.7 per 100,000 than the U.S. rate of 12 per 100,000. Ms. Goldenberg said she and others had been working to strengthen gun laws since the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
“The more we begin to think about this as a complex public health issue and not a political hot potato the more lives we can save,” Ms. Goldenberg said.
The Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center recently joined the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence as a member organization. Sunday’s panel included Oak Bluffs police chief Erik Blake, Tisbury police chief Mark Saloio, Edgartown School principal John Stevens, Dukes County county commissioner Keith Chatinover, regional high school student Alex Rego and Ms. Goldenberg.
Ms. Goldenberg said the federal government has banned fully automatic weapons and requires a federal license for gun sellers. Background checks are mandated for people buying guns unless they are purchasing them at gun shows or through private sales. Beyond those regulations, Massachusetts has added many more measures. Gun owners are required to receive a license from their local police chief, and police chiefs retain the authority to deny license privileges to anyone they deem “unsuitable.” Local chiefs often have a read on a person’s reputation in the community and are aware if they have a history of domestic violence, she said.
“Ninety-seven per cent of licenses are granted,” Ms. Goldenberg said. “But it’s in that three per cent that lives are saved.”
Tisbury chief Mr. Saloio said his experience with the licensing process has been positive. He added that he often gets inquiries from people who have recently moved to Massachusetts from another state who are concerned because they have heard there are strict gun laws. They are often worried they will have trouble securing a license.
“I can do a background check and all the appropriate legal and moral obligations that go with firearms licensing pretty quickly,” Mr. Saloio said. “If so many other places in the country don’t do that, that’s concerning.”
The list of restrictions in Massachusetts also includes a ban on assault weapons in the commonwealth, Ms. Goldenberg said. Gun owners are also required to lock up their guns at home, gun manufacturers are not exempt from liability laws, and every gun recovered at the scene of a crime must be traced and entered into a database.
In July, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a new bill that allows family members to have law enforcement remove guns temporarily from their home if they believe someone with a gun license could be considering harming themselves or others. The measure is called an extreme risk protection order. The order is a civil procedure, not a criminal one. It can be filed with the clerk in a district court. Ms. Goldenberg said the next step is a public information campaign to educate people about the new law.
“We know this ERPO bill can save lives, but only if people know how to use it,” she said. She noted that people struggling with mental health issues are much more likely to become victims of gun violence than a perpetrator.
Also in the works is legislation to begin analyzing state data about where guns collected at crime scenes come from and how to stop the flow. Ms. Goldenberg said Massachusetts’s actions have national effects.
“We have the unique ability here in Massachusetts to pass laws and be a model for the rest of the country,” she said.
Beyond regulations, school safety culture was another focal point of the discussion. Local students have been active in the March for Our Lives movement. Schools around the Island have recently been investing in safety measures like security consultants, cameras and locking doors.
Edgartown School principal John Stevens spoke about an experience he had when he was a high school principal at a school in Florida. After a tip off, they recovered a loaded gun from a student’s locker. An investigation revealed there had been tension between the student and some of his peers.
“I didn’t sleep for too many nights after that incident, because that really scared me to death,” Mr. Stevens said. Mr. Stevens’ perspective was multifaceted as he is also a hunter and a licensed gun owner.
Regional high school junior Ms. Rego described the chilling active shooter preparedness drills and training she and her classmates had undergone.
“My Spanish class was doing a school shooting simulation, and we were discussing every potential scenario we could find ourselves in,” she said. “We had already barricaded both of the two doors with bookshelves, covered every window in the classroom and identified every item in the room that we could use to fight or distract the active shooter if they were to still make it into the room. We talked about using our bodies to barricade the doors, but were told that we must do this lying down for a shooter typically shoots through the door at chest level.”
Attendees of the forum were provided with postcards for state representatives. After the discussion concluded, many lingered to fill them out.
Ms. Broitman opened the event with a moment of silence for all victims of gun violence, including those who died by suicide.
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