WASHINGTON, June 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- With gun violence again on the rise, including four mass shootings in a six-hour period last weekend alone, the U.S. Conference of Mayors is calling on President Biden to prioritize action on gun violence prevention. The U.S. Conference of Mayors applauded President Biden in March of this year when he announced important executive actions through the Department of Justice to address ghost guns and stabilizing braces that alter firearms to make them more accurate and deadly while still concealable, as well as "red flag" legislation for states.
Today, 27 mayors sent a letter to the Biden administration urging immediate action on a variety of fronts to prioritize investment in community violence interventions, expand research related to gun violence causes, enforce existing laws related to gun trafficking and support passage of legislation to establish universal background checks once and for all.
In their letter, the mayors write, "As a nation, we need to take concrete, tangible steps and as our leader, your voice is critically important in this fight... So many cities and towns are now dots on a map of mass shootings that could have been prevented if there were a federal web of uniform laws on background checks, eliminating access to guns for those who have a demonstrated history of mental illness or other disqualifying conditions, just to name a few."
The full text of the letter can be found here and below:
The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write to congratulate you and your Administration on the steps you have already taken to address the scourge of gun violence we face in cities across America. These include the Department of Justice's proposed rules to stop the proliferation of ghost guns and clarify that when individuals use accessories to convert pistols into short-barreled rifles, they must comply with the heightened regulations on those dangerous and easily concealable weapons; the Department's publication of a model state red flag law; and the prioritization of gun violence intervention efforts in the various grant programs and increased funding to carry them out. We also applaud the actions announced by the Justice Department on May 26th that will bring together and enlist U.S. Attorneys, the Department's law enforcement agencies and other relevant Department components in a coordinated and comprehensive violent crime reduction initiative.
We believe there are other steps that the federal government is uniquely qualified to take to enhance the efforts already underway. These steps will help to reduce the epidemic of gun violence that we face daily in our cities:
We stand ready to work with you and Vice President Harris, Ambassador Susan Rice and Attorney General Merrick Garland to see these actions implemented as quickly as possible and this administrative and legislative agenda achieved.
Sincerely,
Nan Whaley | Lori E. Lightfoot | Tom Cochran | ||
Mayor of Dayton | Mayor of Chicago | CEO and Executive Director | ||
President | Chair, Criminal and Social | |||
Justice Committee | ||||
Steve Adler | Muriel Bowser | London Breed | ||
Mayor of Austin | Mayor of Washington, DC | Mayor of San Francisco | ||
Jane Castor | Bill de Blasio | Jenny Durkan | ||
Mayor of Tampa | Mayor of New York City | Mayor of Seattle | ||
Greg Fischer | Kate Gallego | Eric Garcetti | ||
Mayor of Louisville | Mayor of Phoenix | Mayor of Los Angeles | ||
Todd Gloria | Michael B. Hancock | Frank G. Jackson | ||
Mayor of San Diego | Mayor of Denver | Mayor of Cleveland | ||
Kim Janey | Eric Johnson | Van Johnson | ||
Mayor of Boston | Mayor of Dallas | Mayor of Savannah | ||
Tishaura Jones | Tim Keller | Jim Kenney | ||
Mayor of St. Louis | Mayor of Albuquerque | Mayor of Philadelphia | ||
Keisha Lance Bottoms | Sam Liccardo | Quinton Lucas | ||
Mayor of Atlanta | Mayor of San Jose | Mayor of Kansas City (MO) | ||
Vi Lyles | Ron Nirenberg | Sylvester Turner | ||
Mayor of Charlotte | Mayor of San Antonio | Mayor of Houston | ||
Ted Wheeler | ||||
Mayor of Portland (OR) |
About the United States Conference of Mayors -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are more than 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors