Photo Courtesy of Mayor Menino’s Office
Thursday morning, Mayor Patrick Murphy (far right in this photo) joined 16 other Massachusetts mayors at an event hosted by Boston Mayor Tom Menino at the Parkman House in support of legislative measures, violence prevention strategies and community mobilization efforts endorsed by Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
MAIG includes 1,000 mayors nationally, 26 in Massachusetts.
“Earlier this week, I asked the City of Boston to stand with us on guns and say enough is enough,” Mayor Menino said. “As Mayors, we have a responsibility to our residents to do all we can to make our neighborhoods safer. Today, we’re calling on every community in Massachusetts to stand with us. We must keep the pressure on Congress to take swift action.”
Mayor Menino also praised the entire Massachusetts federal delegation for signing onto HR 137. This legislation requires background checks for every gun sale in America. But he also urged Mayors and their constituents to expand their reach: “Call your aunt in Florida; call your college roommate in Texas; call your old neighbor who moved to Vermont. Tell them we need them to stand with us and demand a plan from their members of Congress.”
Twenty-six Massachusetts mayors are members of MAIG. Mayors in attendance at Thursday’s event included: Mayor Joseph C. Sullivan of Braintree, President, Mass Mayors Association, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone of Somerville, Chair, Metro Mayors Coalition, Mayor William F. Scanlon of Beverly, Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr. of Everett, Mayor Lisa Wong of Fitchburg, Mayor Patrick Ó. Murphy of Lowell, Mayor Gary Christenson of Malden, Mayor Michael J. McGlynn of Medford, Mayor Robert J. Dolan of Melrose, Mayor Jonathan Mitchell of New Bedford, Mayor Setti Warren of Newton, Mayor Thomas Koch of Quincy, Mayor Daniel Rizzo of Revere, Mayor Kimberley Driscoll of Salem, Mayor Scott D. Galvin of Woburn.
The Mayors also taped a public service announcement, to be aired statewide.
A letter sent Wednesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee reiterated the coalition’s support for its three proposals: requiring every gun buyer to pass a background check; getting military-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines off the streets; and making gun trafficking a federal crime.
Last week, a letter from more than 830 mayors to Congressional leadership asked for swift action on the Fix Gun Checks bill introduced by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), in an effort to close the enormous gap in current laws by requiring a criminal background check for every gun sale. Background checks are the only systematic way to stop felons, domestic abusers and other dangerous people from buying firearms. These checks are instantaneous and highly effective. Since its inception, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) has blocked firearms purchases at licensed dealerships by millions of individuals who are barred by federal law from owning them.
But criminals and other prohibited purchasers avoid these checks by buying firearms, including online and at gun shows, from unlicensed private sellers who are not required by federal law to conduct the checks. Millions of gun sales — estimated at more than 40 percent of the U.S. annual total — are conducted through private sellers.
For more information on the Demand a Plan campaign, visit: http://www.demandaplan.org/
For more information on Mayors Against Illegal Guns, visit: http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/home/home.shtml
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