Before today, I never heard of this group. It's about time they got some Media attention, imo.
Newtown School Massacre Pushes Gun Control Debate Back Into Limelight
Mayor Bloomberg Calls For Leadership From The White House And Congress
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- December 14, 2012, 7:30 PM
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As CBS 2's Marcia Kramer reported, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a long-time gun advocate who started "Mayors Against [Illegal] Guns," which now has more than 700 members. He has been lobbying for:
* Renewal of the assault weapon ban that expired in 2004.
* Required background checks for every gun sold right now -- 40 percent of all guns are sold without background checks.
* Stronger enforcement of straw sales, where someone buys a gun for someone not eligible to own one.
* And a requirement that states enter criminal and mental health records into the federal background check system.
"With all the carnage from gun violence in our country, it's still almost impossible to believe that a mass shooting in a kindergarten class could happen. It has come to that," Bloomberg said. "Not even kindergarteners learning their A,B,Cs are safe."
It is very hard to believe, it's come to this ... senseless mayhem ... again.
Gun Laws must be enforceable, in order to prevent those with mental issues, from acquiring illegal guns. That they might misuse.
Unenforceable laws, lead to too many "fatal gaps" ...
Coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Fatal Gaps:
[ Interactive Map -- from "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" ]
larger image
Every day, 34 Americans are murdered with guns. That's 48,000 Americans during the next presidential term.
Too often, the people pulling the trigger are able to buy guns because of gaps in our broken background check system. The shooter at Virginia Tech was a prohibited purchaser under the law, but he was able to buy the guns he used to kill 32 people because his mental health record was never submitted to the national database.
Five years after the largest mass shooting in U.S. history, new FBI data show that millions of records are still missing from the database. Every missing record is another tragedy waiting to happen.
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About the Coalition
As mayors, our highest responsibility is to enforce the law and to protect the people we serve. One of the most difficult challenges we face in meeting this responsibility is preventing criminals from illegally obtaining guns and using them. The issue of illegal guns is not conservative or liberal; it is an issue of law and order -- and life or death.
We support the Second Amendment and the rights of citizens to own guns. We recognize that the vast majority of gun dealers and gun owners carefully follow the law. And we know that a policy that is appropriate for a small town in one region of the country is not necessarily appropriate for a big city in another region of the country.
But what binds us together is a determination to fight crime, and a belief that we can do more to stop criminals from getting guns while also protecting the rights of citizens to freely own them.
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Coalition Members
Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a group of over 725 mayors from big cities and small towns from across the country.
Coalition Statement of Principles
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30,000 Americans across the country are killed every year as a result of gun violence, destroying families and communities in big cities and small towns; and
Whereas: As Mayors, we are duty-bound to do everything in our power to protect our residents, especially our children, from harm and there is no greater threat to public safety than the threat of illegal guns;
Now, therefore, we resolve to work together to find innovative new ways to advance the following principles:
Punish -- to the maximum extent of the law -- criminals who possess, use, and traffic in illegal guns.
Target and hold accountable irresponsible gun dealers who break the law by knowingly selling guns to straw purchasers.
Oppose all federal efforts to restrict cities' right to access, use, and share trace data that is so essential to effective enforcement, or to interfere with the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to combat illegal gun trafficking.
Work to develop and use technologies that aid in the detection and tracing of illegal guns.
Support all local state and federal legislation that targets illegal guns; coordinate legislative, enforcement, and litigation strategies; and share information and best practices.
Invite other cities to join us in this new national effort.
Anyone ever victimized by gun violence, random or otherwise, will never forget it. It changes your life right in your tracks. That's if you're one of the "lucky ones" that is.
There must better ways for people to solve problems, to get help, to express rage.
If not, there should be. As these local Mayors, well know.
For they are left to deal with all the "fall out," of all those "fatal gaps" in the system.