Letter from the Attorney General November 17

Dear colleagues,

This week, I was proud to officially announce the office’s Gun Violence Prevention Unit and name Christine Doktor as Director and Ryan Mingo as Deputy Director to lead this critical work. Christine and Ryan arrive to these positions with incredible dedication, passion, and expertise in advancing gun safety within our systems.

Many of you have already had the opportunity to meet Christine and Ryan and kindly welcome them to the office. I hope you will continue to partner with them and this new Unit in your work.

At a time when senseless acts of gun violence are seemingly regular occurrences in Massachusetts and across the country, I am confident that Christine, Ryan and this new Unit will do everything possible to ensure Massachusetts has the strongest, most comprehensive firearm laws.

The Gun Violence Prevention Unit will work across the office to enforce the Commonwealth’s gun and consumer protection laws, work to ensure that Massachusetts has the strongest, most comprehensive commonsense firearm laws in the country, supporting the defense of commonsense gun laws from legal challenge and supporting law enforcement and community-based gun violence prevention work to help reduce gun deaths and shootings across the Commonwealth.

I want to also highlight that it is Transgender Awareness Week, which leads up to Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20. It is a time for us to honor those were lost to transphobic violence, bring attention to the lives and experience of our vibrant trans community, and reaffirm our efforts to address discrimination in all its forms. You can listen to my broader message to the trans community, here.

We will be taking a break from Round Up next week as many of you will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with family, friends and community. Please take time to unplug, reflect and enjoy. I am incredibly thankful for your hard work and continued service to the Commonwealth.

I hope you all have a restful and rejuvenating weekend and holiday.

With tremendous gratitude,

Andrea