Police Confiscated 500 Illegal Guns from Boston Streets in 2012

The Boston Police Department announced on Wednesday that to date in 2012, police have confiscated more than 500 illegal guns from the streets of Boston.

Boston Police have also seized several of the deadly, high powered weapons and high capacity magazines used in the tragic mass shootings in Tucson, AZ, Aurora, CO and, most recently, in Newtown, CT. Those include four Bushmaster rifles, eight Glock handguns, three Sig Sauer handguns and seven AK variant-type rifles.

Police seized a small stockpile of weapons just days ago. On Saturday, Dec. 15, a search of an East Boston residence resulted in seizure of one shotgun, two rifles and three semi-automatic pistols. An Oct. 4 search of a Roslindale home also resulted in the seizure of seven firearms, including two assault type weapons, five handguns, and 1,000 plus rounds of ammunition.

Also on Wednesday, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, co-chairs of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, joined more than 750 mayors across the United States to call for President Barack Obama’s leadership on common sense reform to the nation’s gun laws.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s taken such a heinous crime like the one in Newtown for our voices to be heard. The ache that is being felt by Newtown families is being felt every day by Boston families whose loved ones have fallen victim to gun violence,” Menino said. “Today’s announcement from the President is a step in the right direction, but we’ll continue to demand a plan, and immediate action, until our nation’s gun laws make sense. We look forward to working with Vice President Biden on a path forward. Enough is enough.”

In a letter sent to the President just before his public address Wednesday morning, the bipartisan coalition proposed three concrete action items in the wake of the Newtown mass shooting: mandate criminal background checks on all U.S. gun sales; work to get military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines off the streets; and enact measures to make gun trafficking a federal crime. 

“Now is the time for Washington to take action,” Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said. “Let’s make it tougher for felons, domestic abusers and other dangerous criminals to get guns. We need federal legislation that would require gun buyers to pass criminal background checks and prohibit any private citizen from owning military style high capacity firearms. It is clear these types of weapons have one purpose, to kill large numbers of people quickly, and it is essential we get these guns off our streets.”