Massachusetts
Massachusetts Senate looks to tackle ghost guns, trigger activators in firearm reform bill
Top Senate Democrats released a long-promised gun reform bill Thursday that updates state ghost gun laws, codifies Massachusetts’ existing ban on assault weapons, and makes illegal devices that convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic weapons.
Senate President Karen Spilka pitched the legislation as an omnibus proposal that “would help make residents safer,” cracks down on untraceable firearms, and builds on Massachusetts’ “strong record” of gun safety and violence prevention.
“This fact is not by accident,” Spilka said at the State House. “It’s because we have been vigilant in updating … our gun laws to prevent those who wish to do harm from being able to access and use deadly weapons. We believe Massachusetts is, and should continue to be, a model for the nation when it comes to gun safety laws.”
The proposal sets up a dispute with House lawmakers, who passed their own firearms bill in October that drew opposition from the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association. The association decided to instead support the Senate proposal.
Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association President Chief Eric Gillis said members decided to back the Senate proposal because of “the ability to collaborate with Senate leadership.”
The Agawam police chief declined to say if there were any specific policy differences between the House and Senate that made the Senate proposal more appetizing.
“I can say that what we find in the Senate bill makes sense. It’s concise. At the end of the day, it has to be enforceable. Whatever this body does, has to be carried out by people in our sphere. And when it’s distilled down and simple and makes sense, it’s going to work. So that’s what works for us,” he said during a press conference hosted by the Senate.
The two competing efforts to reform Massachusetts’ gun laws draw one difference in their length. The House version clocks in at 126 pages while the Senate attempts to rework state gun laws in 35 pages.
A spokesperson for House Speaker Ron Mariano, a 14-term Quincy Democrat, said the branch “looks forward” to reviewing the Senate proposal.
“We look forward to reviewing the Senate’s proposal, keeping in mind the critical nature of the reforms included in the House’s proposal, and the urgency around the issue of gun violence generally,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Senate leadership wants to change Massachusetts’ definition of a firearm to align with federal standards.
The definition currently in place only applies to a fully assembled weapon that is capable of discharging a bullet, which means if a person has parts or components of a weapon but has not put them together, they are not in possession of a firearm.
“Massachusetts gun laws are currently inadequate at preventing the unlawful possession of guns, and particularly the growing phenomenon of untraceable ghost guns. This bill will track these unlicensed weapons the same as any other gun and keep them out of the hands of people who are not licensed to carry,” Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem said.
Glock switches, selector switches, and auto sears that turn a semi-automatic firearm into a fully automatic weapon are banned under the bill, with Senate lawmakers arguing the devices are commonly used in mass shootings and make firearms more dangerous.
Creem pointed to a shooting at Boston’s J’ouvert celebrations in August that left eight people with non-life-threatening injuries as an effect of the devices.
“Their goal is the same, to make a gun more dangerous by shooting it rapidly,” the Newton Democrat said.
The bill bars someone from carrying a firearm into a government administrative building and courthouse, though it makes exceptions for law enforcement officers and, in a difference from the House, allows municipalities to opt-out of the provision.
The Senate’s proposal does not limit the carrying of firearms onto private residences of others nor does it address bringing weapons onto school properties, which Creem said were already covered under existing laws.
“We didn’t want to touch that. It is now law that you can’t have a gun in a school so we didn’t need to redo what was done,” she said. “But this applies to government buildings, administrative buildings and courthouses.”
In a departure from the House, the Senate pitched allowing firearm licensing authorities to have access to information about an applicant’s history of involuntary mental hospitalizations due to posing a serious harm.
The Senate requires a law enforcement agency that is involved in a temporary involuntary hospitalization of an individual with a mental health condition to submit information about the incident to the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services.
Creem said there are “appropriate safeguards to guarantee privacy and due process.”
The bill allows health care professionals to petition courts to remove firearms and licenses from patients who pose a risk to themselves or others, an update to Massachusetts’ red flag law and extreme risk protection orders.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell said the legislation is a “much needed step.”
“There is no question that the time to act is now. We must have gun laws that reflect the changes in technology, the personal tragedies caused by gun violence and its shattering impact on communities,” Campbell said in a statement provided by the Senate.
Police shot and killed a man who officials say rushed officers with a knife during a call in Lexington, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said the situation started around 1:40 p.m. when Lexington police received a 911 call from a resident of Mason Street reporting that his son had injured himself with a knife.
Officers from the Lexington Police Department and officers from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC), who were already in town for Patriots’ Day events, responded to the call.
Police were able to escort two other residents out of the home, initially leaving a 26-year-old man inside. According to Ryan, while officers were setting up outside, the man ran out of the home and approached officers with a large kitchen knife.
She added that police tried twice to use non-lethal force, but it was not effective in stopping him. The man was shot by a Wilmington police officer who is a member of NEMLEC. The man was pronounced dead on scene and the officer who fired that shot was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
The man’s name has not been released.
Ryan said typically in a call like this where someone was described as harming themselves, officers would first try to separate anyone else to keep them out of danger, which was done, and then standard practice would be to try to wait outside.
“It would be their practice to just wait for the person to come out. In the terrible circumstances of today, he suddenly rushed the officers, still clutching the knife,” Ryan said.
The investigation is still in the preliminary stages and more information is expected in time. Ryan said her office will request a formal inquest from the court to review whether any criminal conduct has occurred, which is the standard process.
This happened around the same time as the annual Patriots’ Day Parade, and just hours after a reenactment of the Battle of Lexington, which drew large crowds to town.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Massachusetts
‘An impossible choice’: With little federal help to combat rising costs, Head Start looks to Massachusetts for more help – The Boston Globe
In Massachusetts, roughly 1,300 slots for children across Head Start’s 28 agencies have been eliminated in the last three years because federal funding has plateaued over that time, while the cost of running the program continues to rise, according to the Massachusetts Head Start Association. Nationally, Head Start enrollment dropped from 1.1 million kids in 2013 to around 785,000 in 2022, according to research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
“If they didn’t get into a Head Start program, they would be sitting at home,” said Brittany Acosta, a Head Start parent in Dorchester.
It’s teachers are drastically underpaid, and there’s a serious need for a rainy day-type fund should the federal government shut down again, the association says. As they’ve done in years past, state lawmakers have offered to provide financial relief, but the Massachusetts Head Start Association’s request for 3 percent above the amount it received last year, an additional $4.6 million to help its staff keep up with the state’s rising cost of living, so far has not been allocated.
Last year, President Trump’s leaked budget proposal revealed he considered eliminating Head Start entirely. Then, in the summer, he cut off Head Start enrollment for immigrants without legal status. And during the fall’s government shutdown, four Head Start centers in Massachusetts closed because they couldn’t access their funding.
Trump’s latest budget proposal shows a fourth year without increasing funding for the program, which was established in the mid-1960s.
Michelle Haimowitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association, said the program doesn’t want to eliminate more child slots than it already has, but paying teachers a competitive salary is equally important in order to keep them from leaving for higher paying jobs. Head Start teachers make under $50,000 annually compared to over $85,000 for the average Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
“It’s an impossible choice,” Haimowitz said. “When we reduce the size of our programs, we’re not reducing the size of the need.”
Massachusetts is one of few states that supplements federal funding for Head Start, and last year it increased the program’s state grant from $5 million to $20 million, adding to the $189 million in federal aid it receives in this state.
“We can’t run a program without giving staff a raise for three years,” Haimowitz said. “Our next fight now is not just for survival, but it’s for thriving and growth.”
The Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday released its budget, which doesn’t grant Head Start’s request of a 3 percent boost. But state Representative Christopher Worrell filed an amendment for additional funding. Worrell, whose district covers parts of Dorchester and Roxbury, said he loves Head Start’s embrace of culture, recalling one visit to a center where he could smell staff cooking stew chicken, a traditional Caribbean dish.
“I’ve been to dozens of schools throughout the district, and you don’t get that home-cooked meal,” Worrell said. “[The state is] stepping up and doing the best we can with what we have.”
At the Action for Boston Community Development’s Head Start and Early Head Start center in Dorchester, the children of Classroom 7 arrived one Monday morning and dove into bins of magnetic tiles before their teachers, Paola Polanco and Leolina Rasundar Chinnappa, served breakfast. Acosta dropped off her 4-year-old daughter, Violeta, before reporting to her teaching position at the center, where several other Head Start parents also work.
“It’s important for all Head Start parents to have the opportunity to give their child an experience in a learning environment before they actually start kindergarten,” Acosta said.
Beyond providing early education and care to children of low-income families, from birth to age 5, the program helps them access other resources, including mental health services, SNAP benefits, homelessness assistance, and employment opportunities.
It also serves as daycare for parents who might not be able to afford it, while they’re at work.
Research has shown the importance of preschool in a child’s development with one 2023 study, focused on Boston public preschools, finding that it improves student behavior and increases the likelihood of high school graduation and college enrollment.
For Rickencia Clerveaux and Christopher Mclean, the Dorchester Head Start center is the only place they feel comfortable sending their 3-year-old son, Shontz, who is on the autism spectrum. Shontz’s stimming — repetitive movements that stimulate the senses — has reduced, and his speech has improved since he joined the center in 2024, Clerveaux said.
His parents say he’s also come out of his shell. Mclean now drops his son off and gets a simple “bye” as Shontz joins his classmates, he said.
He and Clerveaux said they appreciate the specialized attention Shontz can receive from teachers, such as when staff identified that Shontz might have hearing issues. His parents were able to follow up with their doctor and get Shontz to have surgery to improve his hearing.
“It’s a safe net for parents,” Clerveaux said. “There’s so many ways that him being here helps him grow better.”
Without Head Start, Clerveaux said a lot of pressure would be put on parents to find care for their children, “knowing that they’re already struggling or not getting the ends to meet.”
“That’s a burden for everybody in the community,” she said. “If there’s no funding, there’s no daycare and parents cannot work.”
Lauren Albano can be reached at lauren.albano@globe.com. Follow her on X @LaurenAlbano_.
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