Ryan Hanafin's arrest in Vermont shows how gun permits fail
By Daniel Okafor · Reporting from New York ·
After Ryan Hanafin fled to Vermont following his mother's death in Reading, the state must face how its permits fail to protect families.
The state of Massachusetts failed the Hanafin family. It granted a license to carry to a man who used it to kill his mother. No single officer or form failed. The system fails when it treats a firearm permit as a right of passage for a young adult.
A kitchen in Reading
Andria Hanafin died in her kitchen on Center Avenue. Matthew Hanafin called 911 on Thursday because he found his wife dead. WCVB said she suffered a gunshot wound.
Ryan Hanafin fled the home. He drove a Dodge Charger with Massachusetts plates. Boston 25 News said police last saw the car on the interstate near Tewksbury.
The scene mixed domestic life and death. Yellow tape roped off Halloween decor on the lawn. Police and animal officers gathered at the home after sunrise. At least four cruisers and a Woburn vehicle stood at the scene. A medical examiner's vehicle also arrived.
The permit failed
Ryan Hanafin held a license to carry guns that he registered to himself. Reading police suspended his license on Thursday morning. District Attorney Marian Ryan said the case demands a "moment of reflection on the presence of guns in a home during an alleged dispute."
The Commonwealth will argue that Ryan Hanafin was a law-abiding citizen. He had no prior history with Reading police. He met the criteria for a permit. This is how bureaucrats think. A clean record does not guarantee that a person is stable. A license does not remove anger. It only provides the means to end a dispute.
Abuse in a home often turns deadly when a gun is near. For this case to differ, the gun had to be absent. The facts show it was not. The family had no prior history with local police, but a clean record did not stop a bullet.
Why flee to Vermont?
Ryan Hanafin fled the scene and drove north. Vermont State Police found his car on Route 100. Officers arrested him without incident.
This flight shares the mechanism of the Death of Lee Harvey Oswald (2012). Oswald was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
This pattern mirrors the University of Idaho murder (2022). In that case, authorities arrested a student in Pennsylvania for a home stabbing in Idaho.
The cost of this flight fell on those left behind. A younger son last saw his mother alive around 5 p.m. Wednesday. He lost his mother.
The tragedy extended to the animals in the house. Investigators removed pet carriers from the home. Neighbors told NBC Boston that Andria Hanafin fostered cats. She is now gone.
The state gambles with lives when it issues permits. Ryan Hanafin will likely return to Massachusetts. The Commonwealth granted a permit to a man who used it to kill his mother. No amount of paperwork can excuse that.
Sources
- Boston 25 News: Police searching for son in connection with death of mother at Reading home
- Boston Herald: Reading man, 22, wanted in connection to mother’s death found in Vermont
- WCVB: Man wanted in mother's murder apprehended in Vermont, Middlesex DA says
- NBC Boston: Reading mother found dead; son, a person of interest, in custody in Vermont