Revived Citizens for Safety taking aim at gun violence
Boston police officers generally recover two guns from the streets each day, city officials told local residents at the Julia Martin House. That figure left many in the crowd of more than five dozen wondering where, exactly, are the guns coming from?
"If we want to stop it, that means we have to stand up and we have to take responsibility," Mildred Hailey, executive director of the Bromley-Heath Tenant Management Corporation, said as she led off the July 31 workshop on gun violence, organized by Citizens for Safety. "We have to work together, because pointing the finger and casting blame can no longer be tolerated."
Citizens for Safety was formed in 1990 as a coalition of several former gang members, lawyers, school officials, and businessmen seeking to stem Boston's skyrocketing homicide rate. In less than a decade, the number of annual homicides fell from 152, the highest number on record, to 31, and the group disbanded a few years later.
With the recent uptick in violence, however, the group was revived in January. Since then, it has been tracking sources of illegal guns to learn how they end up in the hands of teenagers and criminals, and bringing residents and police together to raise awareness about the issue.
Sources of firearms trafficking identified in federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms investigations include guns purchased from unlicensed sellers, out-of-state gun shows or flea markets that may not require background checks, and straw sales, when one person poses as the buyer of a gun that is actually for someone else.
The recent forum was held in conjunction with an Aug. 2 memorial for Luis Troncoso, a 20-year-old Dorchester man who was shot and killed in Jamaica Plain in April.
"We can't stop this by arresting our way out of the situation," Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis told the crowd. "The community has to stand up and speak to the young people out there carrying guns and let them know how stupid it is."
RICHARD THOMPSON
