Bipartisan group of governors is exploring responses to mass shootings

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BOSTON — A bipartisan group of governors is coming together to develop recommendations for stopping mass shootings and keeping schools safe.

Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday indicated interest in the effort.

Last Friday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, who serve as chair and vice chair of the National Governors Association, wrote to President Biden to inform him of plans for the group.

Gov. Charlie Baker has indicated interest in a bipartisan effort on the part of several governors to come up with potential solutions to stop mass shootings.
Gov. Charlie Baker has indicated interest in a bipartisan effort on the part of several governors to come up with potential solutions to stop mass shootings.

"While Congress certainly has a role to play in combating this national emergency, this working group of six to ten governors will identify solutions that give state and local leaders tools to promote effective measures in their respective communities," they wrote.

Asked about Hutchinson's effort Monday, Baker said he had not talked to the Arkansas governor "for the last week or so" but would "call my friend Asa" about it.

"I've talked to him before about gun control here in the commonwealth and the nature of a lot of the legislation that's been passed over the last 10 or 15 years," Baker said.

Senate President Karen Spilka called the convening of governors "a great idea."

"I think that I would strongly suggest that the other states adopt similar gun control measures that Massachusetts has adopted, and we would all be a hell of a lot safer and our children would be safer if the other states did that," she said.

House lawmakers wrote an open letter last week to their counterparts in other states, encouraging them to look to Massachusetts on gun legislation.

The Supreme Court is poised to rule in a New York gun law case that could affect existing state laws in Massachusetts and elsewhere.

"We'll have to see what the decision states and then respond accordingly," Spilka said.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Bipartisan group of govenors seek solution to mass shootings