U.S. Mayors React to Shooting Epidemic Call For National Public Safety Agenda

Statement by Manuel A. (Manny) Diaz, Mayor of Miami and President of the U.S.
Conference of Mayors

WASHINGTON, April 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- America's mayors are alarmed by
the string of mass shootings that have occurred in recent weeks in cities
across the nation. This epidemic serves as a stark reminder that the easy
availability of guns often turns domestic and personal disputes into acts of
murder. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims, their families, their
neighbors, and their communities in:

-- Samson, AL, where 10 people were killed on March 10;
-- Oakland, CA, where four police officers were killed on March 21;
-- Carthage, NC - eight nursing home residents were killed on March 29;
-- Santa Clara, CA, where five family members were killed March 29;
-- Binghamton, NY, where 13 people were killed April 3;
-- Graham, WA, where five children were killed April 4;
-- Pittsburgh, PA, where three police officers were killed April 4; and

-- Miami, FL - my city, where in the last few weeks 12 members of three
families have been killed in three separate incidents.

In most of these incidents the shooters lives were also taken, in four cases
by their own hand, in one by police. And these are the dramatic shootings
that garner considerable public attention. We haven't heard as much about the
84 deaths involving firearms, including 34 homicides, which occur on an
average day in our nation.

The Conference of Mayors has advocated for strong gun safety policy for more
than 40 years. Late last year we made gun safety a key element in our
National Action Agenda on Crime for the Next President of the United States.
There are six points in the agenda, which mayors and police chiefs are calling
for:

1. A strengthened, effective ban on military-style assault weapons, such
as
AK-47s, and their component parts must be reinstated.
2. Common sense gun legislation, such as that advocated by Mayors Against
Illegal Guns, should be enacted. Such legislation should close the gun
show loophole; keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, and no longer
permit gun dealers whose licenses are revoked to conduct fire sales.
3. Legislation should be enacted which would limit the number of guns a
person may purchase in a single transaction or in a month or other
specified period of time.
4. Law enforcement agencies' access to gun trace data should not be
limited in any way by either state or federal law - for example, by any
version of the so-called Tiahrt amendment.
5. Anyone purchasing a firearm in the United States should be required to
go
through a background check. Full funding should be provided for the
National Instant Criminal Background Check System and states should be
required to submit records, including those involving persons with
serious mental health problems, to the NICS.

6. The Integrated Ballistic Identification System (IBIS) should be
expanded
to include ballistic images for all new guns, not just those involved
in
crimes. The federal government should support the development of new
technologies, such as micro stamping, which can help solve crimes.

This latest epidemic of shootings has left all of us asking: How many more
gun-related acts of violence must we experience before the nation's leaders
will decide that it is time to act? We urge quick action on these proposals
by Congress and the Administration.

SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors

Elena Temple, +1-202-309-4906, etemple@usmayors.org, or Carlos Vogel,
+1-202-257-9797, cvogel@usmayors.org, both of the U.S. Conference of Mayors