Boston links crime to states’ gun laws

BOSTON – City officials grappling with a rise in shootings say the trend is linked to the flow of guns into the city from Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.

People trying to get around tough Massachusetts laws requiring a state permit to buy a handgun used to travel to North Carolina or Georgia to get guns, police said. But in recent months, police have recovered an increasing number of weapons from nearby states.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said he plans to meet other big-city mayors in Washington and with officials in northern New England to discuss how they can work together to stop illegal gun trafficking.

“We can’t just put our heads in the sand and say there is no problem,” he said. “There is a problem. We have to address it.”

There are more guns on city streets now than at any time in at least six years, and many are being brought in illegally from out of state, police said.

The number of seized firearms increased 34 percent through Nov. 12 compared to the same period last year, and gun-related arrests rose by 39 percent. And through Nov. 16, there had been 40 firearm homicides and 262 other shootings in the city.

Police said shorter distances are a big factor in the flow of guns, as is the availability of older guns that are harder to trace because they change hands often. Officials say more lenient gun laws in other states also contribute to the problem.

In Massachusetts, a resident who wants a handgun must pay $100 for a state-issued permit. Such permits are not required in New Hampshire, Maine or Vermont, where handgun buyers need only show identification proving they are state residents.

Though it’s against federal law for a Massachusetts resident to buy a gun out of state and then return with it, the law can be circumvented by having a resident of another state buy several guns from a dealer and then sell or give them away, said Daniel Kumor, an agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

If a private gun owner then decides to sell the gun, he or she does not need to conduct a background check on the buyer and there is no waiting period, he said.

Jerry Madden, chief of the Concord, N.H., police department, said that loophole can allow criminals to get handguns from private sellers.

“That would be the crack in the door,” he said.

Madden and other law enforcement officials in northern New England acknowledge that looser restrictions may increase the illegal trafficking of guns in cities such as Boston.

But Madden said tightening gun laws would be difficult because of the strong lobbying of groups that support the right to bear arms.