Politics & Government

Republican Congressional Candidates on Gun Control

To help readers make a choice in the Republican primary election on Tuesday, Patch asked the three candidates where do they stand on gun ownership and gun control.

Posted by Susan Petroni

On Tuesday, Oct. 15 voters in the 5th Congressional District will decide which of three Republican candidates will face off against a Democratic challenger to be the district's newest U.S. Representative. The final election is in December.

The three Republican names on the Tuesday, Oct. 15 primary ballot are Frank Addivinola, of Malden, Mike Stoppa, of Holliston, and Tom Tierney of Framingham.

Patch asked each of the candidates a series of questions. The answers to those questions will be published now through Sunday, Oct. 13. 

Today's report focuses on gun control.

In January 2013, President Obama presented his  plan to prevent gun violence in the U.S. It includes:

  • improving the background check system 
  • banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines of ammunition
  • creating and enforcing stricter trafficking laws 
There is an estimated 310 million non-military firearms in the United States.

A survey after the Tuscon, AZ. shooting, had 49 percent of Americans in favor of protecting the right for individuals to own guns, while 46% say it is more important to control gun ownership. 

The nation continues to be split on the issue since. 

Sadly after the shooting in Newtown Ct., the nation was again focused on gun control; and since then even more shootings have happened, including the one at the U.S. Navy Yard recently.
Patch asked: "Where do you stand on gun control?"

​Tierney: "Among the 10 candidates in this race, I’m the only veteran [having served in the Marine Corps] and currently hold the highest qualification rating [Expert] for rifles and handguns. Moreover, I was a bazooka gunner and a-gunner for a number of years, have been to demolitions school and have taught small unit tactics.  I know weaponry.  The laws in Massachusetts regarding gun control, in my opinion, should  be extended to the rest of the country - - - assault weapons should be banned [meaning only one bullet per trigger squeeze] and ammo clips/magazines/jackets should carry no more than 10 rounds."​

Stoppa: "A recent study by Kates and Mauser in Harvard's Journal of Public Law and Policy demonstrated a clear inverse correlation between gun ownership and murder rates, both internationally and within the U.S. The study showed that, for instance, Russia, with a complete ban on guns, is first in the world in murder rate. A map of registered gun ownership in the U.S. appears as an inverse to a map on murder rate.

I believe that the Founding Fathers, and Madison in particular, believed that the purpose of the Second Amendment was to protect citizens not from bandits and marauders (at least not first of all) but rather against the threat of a tyrannical state.​"

Addivinola: "When it comes to mass murders committed by mentally unstable individuals, we need to address the ways of improving our mental health and social services. The necessity to provide important - and often neglected - services to people with psychological special needs has to be addressed at all levels within society and should not be reserved to a discussion around guns.

As a society, we must address issues of violence and mass murders. However, statistic show that most gun crimes are committed by illegally sold and owned guns. Historical data proves that when legal gun ownership numbers go up, crime rates go down. We need to focus our policy and enforcement efforts on reducing illegal gun trafficking – not curtailing rights of legal gun owners and limiting their ability to protect their families and property from criminals.​ I​ fully support the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and will defend Americans' right to bear arms.​"​


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