Speaker DeLeo: 2014 gun safety law was a team effort

Massachusetts House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo joined House members and the Gun Violence Task Force to announce legislation at a press conference in May 2014. The bill was passed in July of that year.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

I write in response to “A complex — and now historic — reign” (Metro, Feb. 10), which included a quote suggesting that I alone was responsible for getting a 2014 gun control bill passed. I am proud of the passage of our 2014 comprehensive gun safety law and grateful not just to advocates, such as John Rosenthal, the cofounder of Stop Handgun Violence, but to the members of our House leadership team.

Representative Ron Mariano, the majority leader of the House, engaged in painstaking negotiations with Republican George Peterson and other members to devise a bill that was not only sweeping but also workable for Massachusetts. That law, along with our subsequent legislative work, has led to our state’s being perennially one of the safest in the country with respect to gun violence and near the top for gun safety measures.

It would be grossly unfair to overlook the contributions of the members of our leadership team and others who helped make this happen.

House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo

Winthrop