ya gotta lot of stones asking the blithering nitwit bagman mayor about accountability and or responsibility why should our congressional delegation be any different than what hides out seemingly forever at and on beacon hill and city hall. the ONLY thing these inept, corrupted and coopted gutless men and women stand sit or squat for is reelection. nothing else and that especially includes your good buddy in the mayors seat.ma

Spot on Brian

Congratulations on making a very valid point. Don't forget that John Tierney, for example, made gun control his signature issue against Peter Torkilsen in his winning race in 1996. Gun control is a good issue in most districts in Massachusetts. Let's move on this, delegation!

Asking our delegation to fight for gun control is like looking for keys in the light that were lost in the dark. It is on the Republican side where pressure needs to be exerted by the public. Going further it is indeed the public that continues to let this situation fester. The United States sits as the most murderous nation among developed countries by many fold and our citizens take a self righteous approach by wrapping themselves in the non security of the 2nd Amendment. Only when it has caused tragedy in their family a la Mr. Brady that the realization dawns on them that guns are manufactured to kill other living things and in certain settings other humans.

Thank you for writing what a lot...A LOT...of people are thinking and talking about. Where are the leaders? A true leader takes on issues, even with long odds of success, because it is the right thing to do. Our "leaders" have been cowed by the NRA and muzzled by their own fear of not getting reelected if they speak on anything controversial. Banning assault weapons makes common sense and does not erase the 2nd Amendment. What is wrong with these cowardly sheep?

Our congressional delegation consists of ten, soon to be nine, liberal Democrats who get no respect in the Republican House, JFK (Just For Kerry) and Scott Brown in the Senate. Brian is usually sound, but this is a weak effort. Can't have it both ways after all. Brian points out that Massachusetts has low and declining rates of gun-related fatalities in spite of being surrounded by states with weak gun laws and then scorns Sen. Brown for supporting state level solutions. So, which is it, Brian? State level solutions are working in Massachusetts but we need to federalize gun control anyway? Doesn't the globe have editors to keep columnists from making fools of themselves like this?

Not to interfere with any criticism of our congressional delegation, but it's important to remember the reason for the creation of the 2nd amendment -- to make sure the population is armed against a powerful, oppressive government (like at the time the British; today, read the Globe's The World section daily to see such governments assaulting their citizens. And please, don't embarrass yourself by saying it could never happen here).

Thank you Brian for having a pair which is nothing that sacless psycho had when he donned head to toe Kevlar combined with assault weapons and pistols. He didn't want to get hurt because people who go to movies are always packing machines guns too. Somehow we manage to live with removing our shoes at the airport after the unsuccessful shoe bomber failed and nobody died. Somehow we manage to live with restricted smoking like in restaurants and people are happier. Why can't people realize the NRA for what it is? They are a PR and marketing firm for gun manufactureres that need more sales. What better ways to sell more product than ihaving no regulations. If gun ownership is truly declining nationwide we better get some restrictions in place or the only ones with guns will be the psychos. For starters a bill should be created so that the local police be notified when people are stockpiling weapons. The police swing by unannounced and if they suspect something come back with a warrant and proper backup. This is NOT what the founding Fathers had in mind.

Yes, it is astonishing that we do not take steps to address the problem of assault weapons, especially. It is astonishing too that the in its precipitous slide to the Right, Republicans have turned their back on the common sense position that Republican Chief Justice Warren Burger took on the Second Amendment (it had to do with militias) and instead, under pressure from the NRA, preen in the light of foolishness spread by the current Repubican court majority. But what is breathtakingly absurd is to read the comments here from Right wingers criticizing the inability of our 9 or 10 members of Congress to, like magic, overcome the millions upon millions spent by the NRA and likes of Boehner and Eric Cantor. What is Richard Tisei's position on this? What charge is he leading? Show me one single Republican candidate that is calling for a ban on assault weapons, for instance. It took some time before the leadership of Harry Truman and Hubert Humphrey in the late 1940s lead to the civil rights and voting rights acts of 1965. But, speaking of voting rights, give the Right an inch and they'll take away your right to vote. See what's happening in Pennsylvania. Not a single instance of voter fraud in that state yet the Republicans there pass a law that will disenfranchise up to 750,000 voters.

Insane people have the right to purchase weapons as much as anyone! Why discriminate on the basis of contact with reality? If that were the case the majority of our US Congress would be unemployed! The insane can shoot as well as anyone! Just look at our history. Those that say that we shouldn't allow the insane purchase guns are just attempting to restrict our freedoms. For example: what if you were in a grocery store and a holdup man came in pulled out a Saturday night special and shouted "this is a stick up!" Wouldn't you feel safer if an insane man was behind the counter with an machine gun?

I would feel safer if I were allowed to protect myself by possessing a gun.

And praise the "right' for their persistence in gaining access to the names of voters who are voting illegally in Florida elections. This information had to be wrested from the current administration after the courts supported Florida's rights to such information. Is it the "right" who's taking a mile in flouting our Constitution by "executive" order??

The NRA also maintains an effective firearms training program which is successful in reducing "gun related fatalities".

Insuring domestic tranquility is also part of the US Constitution and should be adhered to. In what way is unregulated posession of assault weapons insuring domestic tranquility? On the contrary....allowing ownership of these weapons is insuring use of these weapons against the innocent either accidentally or willfully. This is not tanquility.

Amen, Amen I say to you. We need to get MAD!!!!!

O luxury! thou cursed by Heaven's decree, How ill exchanged are things like these for thee! How do thy potions, with insidious joy, Diffuse thy pleasures only to destroy! Kingdoms by thee, to sickly greatness grown, Boast of a florid vigour not their own; At every draught more large and large they grow, A bloated mass of rank unwieldly woe; Till, sapped their strength, and every part unsound, Down, down they sink, and spread the ruin round.

Man are you carrying around a lot of hate. It's an ugly thing to see.

Ironically it's more likely to happen under a GOP/Tea Party Administration. Dissent is NOT allowed. Just relax and listen to Rush...

As compared to Romney? You know, the guy who signed the first assault weapons ban in the US and has now "transformed" into a "lifelong NRA member" who opposes any form of gun control?

Once again the globe gets it wrong. The problem isn't the guns or the gun laws. The problem is that we allow clearly identified nut jobs to remain active members within our society. Go back 50 years and people who were identified as "crazy" were locked away in asylums which is where they belong! Now we have medication and counseling and all types of feel good nonsense so that the mentally ill can remain among the general population. In most every shooting event the post shooting comments are almost always "I knew he would do something like that" or "he was always a bit odd" or some related comment by people who felt these nuts could be dangerous yet nothing was ever done about it. As for the gun deaths you reference, keep in mind that more than half of all gun deaths are suicide and not homicide and the gun homicide rate in black communities is about four times as high as it is for other races. Fix the real problems in society and these episodes will greatly diminish.

As a big fan of the Constitution, I've always had a problem with the Second Amendment. The founding fathers wrote the document in a world of technological changes coming at a glacial pace (and perhaps that's even being generous), and in their world most elements of human nature as we know them today had been well established. For instance, the desire of one person to force their religious beliefs onto another had been transpiring for eons and the need to be specific about it was quite clear and was written into the first amendment. But the right to bear arms? I don't dispute the right to a gun, as long as it's a musket that's not the most accurate of shots and needs a minute or so to reload a single shot. If the founding fathers knew what weaponry meant in the 21st century, no sane and rational person would think that the Second Amendment would have been written as it is. Does a citizen have the right to Atomic weapons? Weapons of Mass Destruction? Tanks and Heavy Artillery? Because that's what the so-called militia would need to properly defend itself in this day and age.

Ye, Yes, and a Louder Yes. Our congressional members need to show leadership and introduce reasonable limits on gun ownership. The gun industry is too strong and their products infringe upon our rights to life, liberty, and a freedom from being shot!