THE POINT OF GUNS IS KILLING:

The ripple effects of the Supreme Court decision last week striking down New York's restrictions on carrying concealed handguns could pose a particular threat in Boston, which, while far from immune from gun violence, has fared much better than other cities its size at keeping shootings down.

With the year half over, 67 people were shot in Boston, seven fatally, according to the city's Police Department. Four cities with populations comparable to Boston's -- Louisville, Ky.; Nashville; Las Vegas; and Portland, Ore. -- had two to four times as many shootings, and six to 10 times as many fatalities, a Globe analysis found.

Guns are also more likely to be the cause of homicide in cities where gun laws are looser. Firearms were involved in 95 percent of homicides in Louisville this year, 81 percent in Nashville, and 73 percent in Las Vegas. In Boston, fatal shootings represent 50 percent of homicides this year.

While gun violence surged in major US cities during the pandemic, homicides and shootings in Boston declined last year and have fallen even further this year, according to police data. The striking difference points to the importance of gun restrictions and wide-ranging efforts by hospitals, community groups, and the police to reduce urban violence, specialists say.

"The overwhelming factor in violent deaths is access to guns," said David Hemenway, a professor at Harvard University's School of Public Health and former head of the National Violent Death Reporting System. "In states where there's easy access to guns, there are more gun homicides." [...]

While Massachusetts is lauded for its heavy restrictions on assault weapons and a ban on high-capacity magazines, some of its stricter measures may now be at risk. Massachusetts is one of five states with laws similar to the one in New York struck down by the court, which give local government the discretion to decide who gets a gun permit; here, local police chiefs can deny someone a handgun license if they are determined to be unsuitable or not in need of one. And it remains difficult for law enforcement agencies to slow the influx of guns from states with fewer regulations.

"Laws have to be more stringent to prevent people from getting access to available guns too easily," said Daniel Semenza, a criminal justice professor at Rutgers University. "Background checks, licensing and registration, red flag laws, all of these are an important part of the 'Swiss cheese' approach to policy that focuses on layering different precautions to close the loopholes."

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