http://www2.townonline.com/somerville/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=621689&format=text FBI: Mass. most violent state in Northeast, due to youth violence Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - Updated: 11:09 AM EST Legislators, local officials, police and community activists from Boston, Springfield and New Bedford, as well as other communities in the commonwealth, examined the rise in youth gun violence in the commonwealth. State Sen. Jarrett T. Barrios, D-Cambridge, and State Rep. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera, co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, organized the oversight hearing and listened to speakers give solutions to the problem of youth gun violence. According to the FBI, Massachusetts has become the most violent state in the Northeast due to an explosion in youth violence over the last four years. More startling is the increasing amount of guns used in these crimes. In 2005, there were more than 600 shootings in Boston, up from 341 in 2004. High school-age teens comprised more than 50 percent of shooting victims, according to a report on youth violent crime prevention published by the Boston City Council last year. “Today was an opportunity to hear from the people who are on the front lines of this crisis and hear what tools they need from us to get the guns off of the streets and make our communities safer,” said Barrios last Wednesday. Testifiers recommended creating a large ballistics database which would assist in finding the individuals who are using guns. In addition, upgrading the current ballistics-tracing system so that state and local police can trace the sale of used and illegal guns, as well as guns purchased through “straw purchases,” would assist police tremendously. This would enable police to find out where individuals are buying guns from because current federal law prohibits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms from sharing tracing information with state and local police. The Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee hopes that this hearing will be as successful as the gang violence hearing they convened two years ago. Legislation drafted as a result of that hearing lead to the formation of a state witness protection program; increased penalties for witness intimidation; and provided $11 million to community outreach groups, community policing and after-school programs. The committee will follow that same model with this hearing. They will create a report based on the recommendations made today and file legislation for the 2007 session based on that report. ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.
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