Menino urges federal action on illegal guns
Testifies in D.C. on closing gaps in law
Mayor Thomas M. Menino told a congressional task force yesterday that Boston police have recovered 202 guns this year that were used to commit crimes despite the city's strict firearms laws.
The majority of those guns were illegal, and as many as 60 percent came from other states with weaker laws, he said.
"Illegal guns know no borders," Menino said. "This only reinforces the need for common sense federal action to help close these gaps and protect our police, our residents, and our community."
During Menino's testimony at the Rayburn House Office Building, he discussed a coalition he formed with Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York and 13 other mayors to campaign against illegal guns.
In less than two years, the group has grown to more than 300 mayors who represent 53 million Americans across the country that Menino said have transcended geographic and political boundaries.
"That's why I am here - because I believe that working with our coalition will help keep illegal guns out of Boston and all of America's cities and towns," Menino said.
Bloomberg outlined the coalition's "common sense agenda" to fixing the background check system. The agenda would require gun dealers to perform criminal background checks on all gun-handling employees, not allow the selling of guns to those on the terrorist no-fly list, as well as other measures.
Menino spokeswoman Dorothy Joyce said the mayor is pleased with the panel's reception to the hearings and believes the recommendations will have a direct impact on gun trafficking in Boston.
"When I get the phone call in the middle of the night with news of another senseless tragedy," Menino said, "I ask myself - and we all should ask - 'Where did the gun come from?' "
The Congressional Task Force on Illegal Guns is cochaired by Representatives Charles Rangel, Democrat of New York; John Conyers, Democrat of Michigan; Peter King, Republican of New York; and Mark Kirk, Republican of Illinois.
