Springfield rep’s appeal on gun corridors: “people are afraid”

BOSTON (SHNS) – A state rep from Springfield and member of Speaker Ron Mariano’s leadership team is calling for more funding for three federal agencies, saying “people are afraid” of gun violence stemming from illegal weapons being shuttled along a pair of interstate highways.

“People are afraid and desperate for lawmakers to intervene to help keep them safe. It is evident that this situation is clearly out of control,” Rep. Bud Williams, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights, and Inclusion, said in a statement Saturday.

Williams appealed for more funding to support the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The chair of the Legislature’s Black and Latino Legislative Caucus said more money would help these agencies to more proactively stop the influx of illegal weapons in communities along Interstate 95 and Interstate 91.

“We know that more federal funding will only improve their abilities to produce better outcomes,” he said. “I am certain that Congress will agree that we must not only apprehend the perpetrators and seize these weapons, but we must also ensure that those who partake in these illegal transactions are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that Springfield’s 2023 homicide rate was the highest of any major city in New England and “appears to be an outlier among big cities” in the region.  There were 31 homicides in Springfield last year, and 10 more so far in 2024.

Williams has been pushing state and federal law enforcement to increase their presence in Springfield since at least last summer, when he asked Gov. Maura Healey to permanently increase the presence of the State Police there.

At the state level, the House and Senate this session overwhelmingly approved another batch of proposed laws targeting gun violence but House and Senate Democrats have been unable to come up with a consensus bill during four-plus months of private negotiations.

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