(Host) Today in Boston, proponents of stricter gun sale laws unveiled a huge billboard that takes aim at Vermont and several other states.
The 252-foot long sign is near the Massachusetts Turnpike and Fenway Park. It’s designed to draw attention to gun violence in Massachusetts – and where the weapons come from. The billboard points out that 32 states, Vermont included, allow people to buy weapons in private sales without criminal background checks.
John Rosenthal is chairman of Stop Handgun Violence, a non-profit group that’s putting up the billboard.
(Rosenthal) “The billboard will show the state signs basically for New Hampshire, Maine Vermont and Georgia. It will say Stop Traffic, Background Checks Stop crime.”
(Host) Rosenthal said that weapons bought in Vermont and other states with lax gun control laws end up on the streets in Boston, Springfield and other New England cities.
(Rosenthal) “Vermont is a big part of the gun violence in Springfield, Hartford, and New York City. In fact, Law enforcement is telling us that cheap heroin is coming up from New York, Hartford and Springfield and being literally traded for cheap, easily accessible guns in Vermont.”
(Host) The news conference on the billboard included Rosenthal, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino Police Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole and District Attorney Daniel Conley.