Hub safer by degrees as firearms confiscatedA focal point of the Boston police crackdown on violence this summer - getting guns off the streets - netted results this weekend as seven firearms were confiscated.
The firearms, ranging from a Mac 11 ``machine-gun type'' weapon and a shotgun to several semiautomatic handguns, were taken in Dorchester, East Boston, Mattapan, Charlestown and Jamaica Plain, police said.
In recently kicking off Operation Neighborhood Shield II, a joint task force effort aimed at stemming the tide of violence that typically occurs during summer, Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole identified illegal guns as a primary focus.
Superintendent Paul Joyce said 10 ATF agents have joined with the Boston police special investigation unit to go after illegal firearms.
"They will work to track firearms and take it to the next level,'' Joyce said.
Five people were arrested Friday and Saturday and face possession of firearm charges today in various courts.
Police also arrested Mark Matarazzo, 22, of Charlestown for using a paintball gun to shoot at three kids playing in a courtyard. And Joseph Hines, 55, of East Boston was arrested for unlawful possession of a stun gun.
During the busts, police also found numerous rounds of ammunition and drugs ranging from marijuana, heroin and cocaine.
Last year, Boston police took 741 firearms off the streets.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=93325*FW Note:"
Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole identified illegal guns as a primary focus."
...and then they come back with a paintball gun, a stun gun, and somebody's dope stash.
Looks like someone's going on a fishing trip.
Now we get to enjoy all the benefits of the loss of the Fourth Amendment...
