Mayor eyes new curb on gun-law violators

Mayor Thomas M. Menino wants the state to suspend driver's licenses and revoke the vehicle registrations of individuals convicted of firearms violations in Massachusetts and to list the charges on driving records available to police during traffic stops.

In a measure he plans to introduce today on Beacon Hill, the mayor is proposing that licenses be suspended and registrations revoked, without a hearing, for up to five years for crimes such as illegal possession of a gun or selling guns without a license. Menino administration officials say such a law could help stem gun crimes and warn police pulling over cars that the drivers may be carrying guns. Authorities have said many of those arrested for firearms offenses are repeat offenders.

The measure is one of more than 60 bills the mayor is proposing as part of his annual wish list for state legislation, which this year includes bills requiring fire sprinklers in all high-rise condominium buildings and allowing voters to cast ballots up to three weeks before elections. Menino's legislative package, introduced in January each year, often offers a glimpse of the mayor's priorities for the coming year. Menino is scheduled to outline his agenda in detail tomorrow at his annual state of the city address.

"We believe our legislative package targets our over-arching goals for 2007 and gives us better tools to serve the taxpayers of Boston," the mayor's press secretary, Dot Joyce, said Friday.

At the top of Menino's agenda this year is reducing violent crime, Joyce said. Boston logged 74 homicides last year, 54 of them shootings. There were 51 fatal shootings the year before, when the city had 75 homicides, a 10-year high.

State law currently allows the Registry of Motor Vehicles to suspend driver's licenses and revoke registrations of people convicted of drug charges and of convicted sex offenders who do not register with the state. The mayor's proposed bill would also allow the state to revoke registrations and suspend licenses of people convicted of gun offenses. If the offenders are under 18, their licenses would be suspended and registrations revoked until they turn 21.

Notices of convictions would be transmitted by criminal courts to the registry, which would revoke the registration of any vehicle registered to offenders, suspend offenders' licenses, and list the convictions on offenders' driving records, under Menino's proposal. It is unclear how long the convictions would be listed.

The mayor's other priorities include improving city services while maintaining or lowering costs, growing revenue, narrowing health and education achievement disparities, and improving fire safety, administration officials said.

Some high-rise condominiums, including Charles River Park in the West End and Harbor Towers on the downtown waterfront, do not have fire sprinklers because they were constructed before 1975, exempting them from compliance with a state law mandating sprinkler systems in high-rise buildings. The mayor's proposal would require all high-rise buildings to have sprinkler systems.

In another measure, Menino wants state buildings to be required to adhere to local fire codes, including forced reporting of hazardous materials. When firefighters responded to reports of a gas leak at the State House last year, they discovered several propane tanks in the building about which they hadn't been notified. If those had exploded, city officials say, firefighters could have lost their lives.

The city's handling of elections is also on the mayor's agenda with one proposed bill allowing early voting in the state. The initiative was recommended by an election task force that Menino appointed in 2005 after the US Department of Justice sued the city, saying it had violated the rights of voters with limited English skills. A Harvard University elections specialist hired by the mayor after city polling places ran out of ballots last November also recommended that the city institute early voting. If passed, the measure would allow registered voters to cast ballots between 20 days and six days before an election.

Only a fraction of bills the mayor proposes each year are passed by legislators and signed into law by the governor. Last year, initiatives that passed included one legalizing needle exchange programs and another granting the city permission to issue 55 more liquor licenses.

Some of the bills are reintroduced every year, such as a measure allowing cities and towns to assess a 1-percent meals tax on diners in restaurants. Menino has proposed the bill every year for the past five years. He plans to reintroduce it again today.

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.