Some MA Residents Are Arming Themselves To Stay Safe On A Daily Basis

Personally, I am a little uncomfortable discussing this topic at hand as I've never owned a firearm and don't intend to do so. The thought of seeing a gun truly scares me in more ways than one. But the reality sets in as Massachusetts residents have their reasons for carrying a legal weapon and it is their right to do so, provided they obey the proper laws and procedures that are mandated statewide.

New data reveals a total of 115,000 firearms were bought in Massachusetts and sold to Bay State. It may seem like a lot, but if you can believe it, that number is down from recent years. In 2021, licensed firearms dealers throughout The Commonwealth reached a total of 140,000 transactions.

The State's Firearms Record Bureau released information regarding individual gun sales records which includes information including the type of firearm that is purchased, the shop where it was sold, plus the state and town where the person buying the gun lives. The Gun Owners Action League is calling for removal of this data, claiming the amount of information released could lead to the identification of individual gun owners, which is confidential by law. The Bureau removed one data point which is a unique number that is issued to every gun buyer.

Let's find out the top 3 locations where the most guns were purchased in our vicinity (Hint: Berkshire county ranks low on this list, more statistics regarding our area are on the way).

At the top of this list, our capital city of Boston. It's obvious they have received the number one accolade being it's the largest metropolis in Massachusetts as 3,506 residents have purchased a weapon for reasons that were warranted.

Springfield came in second place as The Pioneer Valley's largest city has recently seen an uptick in crime. Over 2,500 weapons were sold within the last two years as the city has recently seen a growth in population. Those residents are finding some way of keeping themselves safe on a daily basis.

At number 3, The Bay State's second largest city, Worcester made the list. The central Massachusetts vicinity saw over 1,800 residents shell out some of their hard earned money to receive some much needed protection, but that's about half the number of total sales parallel to Boston.

As for The Berkshires, Pittsfield was at the top of this list with over 1,000 residents investing in firearm safety. North Adams came in a distant second with a total of 315 people arming themselves as an added precaution. Lee, Lenox and Lanesborough rounded out the top five. All south county towns only saw less than 100 purchases due to their rural status in The Bay State.

BOTTOM LINE: For those who need peace of mind in owning a firearm, just remember to obey the laws instilled when you make this all-important decision and in the long run, don't do anything STUPID!!

(Some information and statistics obtained in this article courtesy of https://www.wcvb.com/article/massachusetts-gun-sales-data-reveals-number-of-legal-firearms-transactions-during-2022/42723857#:~:text=sale%20data%20online-,Boston%2C%20Springfield%20and%20Worcester%20took%20the%20top%20three%20spots%20for,sold%20to%20residents%20across%20Massachusetts.)