Author Archives: Will Brownsberger

A Trial Balloon

I want to float a trial balloon. Don’t take my head off, it’s just a thought: What if we were to give the MBTA the ability to raise its own tax revenues regionally subject to periodic voter approval (as in Proposition 2.5)? Some background first: As compared to other major transit agencies in the United …

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Thank you for the support for change!

Thanks for the great response — a number of very thoughtful posts in this forum. I have read them all (as of 2/10). Additionally, I received several dozen personal email responses on the issue, to which I have also responded. Many good stories, many useful arguments, some helpful specific suggestions. At a high level, I …

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What share of guns in private hands were acquired from private sellers?

An important question in the national debate is what share of weapons are acquired from private sellers. Private sellers do not need to conduct background checks when they make sales. The President, in his proposal to require background checks for all gun sales states: Right now, federally licensed firearms dealers are required to run background …

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