Solet Criticizes DA Marian Ryan’s Record on Illegal Guns; Pledges New Gun Trafficking Unit

Democratic Challenger Highlights Incumbent Marian Ryan’s Failure to Prosecute Out-of-State Gun Traffickers Despite Hundreds of Seized Firearms

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MA — Democratic candidate for Middlesex District Attorney David Solet is drawing a sharp contrast between himself and incumbent DA Marian Ryan on public safety, accusing the current leadership of failing to aggressively investigate and prosecute illegal gun trafficking. Pointing to a massive gap between police seizures of weapons and actual prosecutions of gun traffickers, Solet pledged to make disrupting illegal gun networks a top priority by creating a dedicated Crime Gun Unit within the District Attorney’s office if elected.

While Massachusetts has boasted some of the toughest gun trafficking statutes in the nation since 2014, championed by then-Speaker Robert DeLeo and John Rosenthal, founder of Stop Handgun Violence, Solet argues that these laws are only effective if prosecutors devote the resources needed to identify the shadowy networks that funnel guns into the hands of criminals.

"When it comes to protecting our communities from illegal gun violence, we can and should do more. I will," said David Solet. "For years, Middlesex County has been flooded with illegal guns from out of state. But the current leadership of the DA’s office hasn’t made gun trafficking a priority. The incumbent seems to think the current state of affairs is fine. I don't."

In May, a man armed with an illegally-obtained weapon fired at least 70 shots into oncoming traffic on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. The shooter had been previously convicted of attempting to kill a Boston police officer with a .40 caliber handgun in 2020. Since convicted felons are barred from purchasing firearms, officials are still investigating where and how the assailant obtained the weapon.

Data from across Middlesex County illustrates the failure to stem the flow of illegal firearms.. Since 2020, state and local police have seized between 100 and 200 illegally-obtained firearms from the streets of Middlesex County every single year. Yet, over the last five years, the incumbent DA’s office has secured just a handful of convictions against the traffickers responsible for bringing those hundreds of weapons into the Commonwealth.

Solet criticized Ryan for refusing to allocate the necessary resources to trace crime guns back to their out-of-state sources and prosecute the networks selling them to local criminals.

"Disrupting these criminal networks requires focused, sustained investigative effort. It requires treating gun crime as a priority, not an afterthought," Solet added. "As District Attorney, I will establish a Crime Gun Unit dedicated strictly to identifying, disrupting, and prosecuting the gun trafficking networks that funnel these illegal weapons into Middlesex County. It is not enough merely to seize guns after a shooting. We have to work harder to stop the flow of illegal weapons at the source."

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