Senate Democrats on Beacon Hill moved closer to getting a handle on what a promised gun reform bill could look like during an hours-long, closed-door meeting Wednesday where lawmakers heard presentations on firearms from experts.
Members of Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security covered the intricacies of firearms, including describing different parts of weapons to senators, Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem told reporters on her way out of the meeting.
The private discussion took place only days after Senate President Karen Spilka said the chamber would offer up its own firearms-related reform bill by the end of January, a response to a proposal the House approved last year after some controversy.
Creem said it was still too early in the process to identify top priorities that could be included in a Senate gun reform package, but ticked off tackling ghost guns and the process for converting a semi-automatic firearm into an automatic weapon.
“We’ve learned there’s just so much crime out there and it’s scary and if we could get rid of all the violence, that would be great,” she said. “But … I don’t have a bill yet. I’m still in the thinking (phase),” Creem said.
A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Public Safety referred questions to Spilka’s office, which said senators “heard from the Attorney General’s Office and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, who shared information on firearm issues and gun safety, as the Senate continues to craft gun safety legislation.”
Creem said the discussion offered members a chance to get information on different firearms-related phrases and gun safety. The presentations by state officials “have been some time coming” after lawmakers expressed interest, Creem said.
“There were a lot of members in the Senate who wanted to have an opportunity to not take positions but they were members, like I was to begin with, that didn’t know what a Glock switch was, what’s a frame,” Creem said.
Legislation passed by the House in October aims to crack down on the sale of ghost guns, looks to update so-called red flag laws, reworks the definition of assault weapons, and limits the carrying of guns into schools, polling places, government buildings, and private residences.
It also outlaws the sale or purchase of rifles similar to Armalite’s AR-15 and addresses the state’s firearms licensing process. The proposal, as written by state representatives, has drawn opposition from a gun owners advocacy group and some police chiefs in Massachusetts.
But it appears any Senate version will not be drafted in connection with the House-backed proposal. Creem, a Newton Democrat who has led the Senate’s efforts to craft a gun bill, said she has not been in touch with House counterparts.
“They did their version,” she said. “I’ve just been in touch with different groups to hear their ideas and I’ve been meeting with mostly all members. So this is the Senate’s bill, what members of the Senate think they want in a bill.”
Creem said she does not yet know what legislative vehicle the Senate will use to advance their own proposal. The House split off a portion of a spending bill filed by Gov. Maura Healey to carry their reform package.
“So what happens if we have a bill that’s different and they have their bill? There’ll be some conference committee that will work through,” Creem said, referring to a six-member legislative panel that hashes out competing bills typically behind closed doors.
Previous Herald materials were used in this report.