A potential gun offender registry similar to the state sex offender registry is being proposed by Boston City Councilor Robert Consalvo, says the Boston Globe. The registry would let residents find out if they are living near someone who has been convicted of a gun crime. “‘Someone who’s been convicted of multiple gun offenses is just as dangerous to me and my family as a sex offender,” Consalvo told the Globe.
Last year’s 341 shootings were the most in Boston since 1995 and homicides hit a 10-year high of 75. City officials have proposed several ideas to quell the surge in shootings, which are up by 64 percent this year through March 9, compared with the same period last year. The proposals range from installing a gunshot acoustic detection system for tracking gunfire to requiring more repeat gun and gang offenders to wear electronic monitoring bracelets. Brandyn Keating of the Criminal Justice Policy Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group for reform of laws on how much information about offenders is made public, believes the registry idea is problematic.
Link: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/03/22/city_councilor_aims_for_gun_off