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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMayors Against Illegal Guns MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS J np,4,2014 Mayor Cherie Kidd P.O. Box 1150 JUN 1 6 2014 Port Angeles, WA 98362 I �J Dear Mayor Cherie Kidd: We're writing to invite you to join our bipartisan coalition and stand up for common-sense gun safety policies that support the work of law enforcement and save lives. Our members are united in the recognition that support for the Second Amendment goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. Mayors Against Illegal Guns was formed in 2006 as a bipartisan coalition of 15 mayors. Since then, our coalition has grown to include over 1,000 current and former mayors nationwide, with 14 counties represented here in Washington State. This year, Mayors Against Illegal Guns joined forces with Moms Demand Action, the leading grassroots movement of American mothers working to prevent gun violence, to form Everytown for Gun Safety. Our principal effort last year was calling on Congress to require background checks for all gun sales, a life- saving policy supported by nine out of ten Americans. Senators Cantwell and Murray both supported a strong compromise bill that would require background checks for all commercial sales, including those at gun shows and online. We're continuing this fight and won't stop until Congress passes meaningful legislation that will curb the gun violence that kills 86 Americans every day. At the state level we passed domestic violence legislation that will keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. HB 1840, the Washington State's domestic violence prevention bill, was passed unanimously by both the state House and state Senate. This year Washingtonians have an opportunity to make our communities safer with an initiative to require lifesaving comprehensive criminal background checks across the state. As a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, we'll help amplify your voice on these important public safety issues, and provide you with opportunities to meet and learn from other elected officials and policy makers. We also offer technical assistance with local strategies to reduce gun crime. There are no membership fees or other obligations. To join our coalition,simply sign the enclosed Statement of Principles and mail it in the enclosed envelope, fax it to (717) 441-3827 or email it to ►rya cr_@be, �_wn_,_.o . For more information about our activities, please visit_www.eve�town.org/mauyc)rs or contact Washington Organizing Director Meera Bhardwaj at (402-314-5965 or mbhardwaj ?ever owr ). Together, by continuing the conversation on gun violence and standing up for our values, we can save lives in Washington State. Sincerely, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray Issaquah Mayor Fred Butler Mayors Against Illegal Guns Mayors Against Illegal Guns EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFF7 Y MAYORS AGAINST ILLE GAL GLINS June 4, 2014 Dear Mayor Cherie Kidd: I am the Washington State Outreach Associate for Everytown for Gun Safety, a bipartisan coalition of mayors, mothers, gun violence survivors, and more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters from across the country. I am also a survivor of gun violence. Eight years ago, five of my co-workers and I were shot— one fatally—when a gunman came into our workplace, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. I was critically wounded by the gunshot to my abdomen, and underwent a six-week stay at Harborview Medical Center, in the ICU and the Trauma Surgery Ward. Over three years, I had a total of 20 surgeries to repair the damage done by that one hollow-point bullet, as well as months of PTSD therapy. Now, a few years later, I have chosen to dedicate myself full-time to preventing gun violence. It's not just my job, but also my honor to reach out to fellow Washingtonians who have survived gun violence, so they know they aren't alone, and to be there for them if they decide they want to share their stories. In the years since I was shot, I've found that when survivors share their experiences with others, it allows others to see the very real, very personal impacts gun violence can have in our communities. It's also my hope that by sharing our stories, we can inspire others to take action—action that will change our communities for the better. In that spirit of inspiring action, I'd like to ask you to join our 1,000-strong coalition of mayors in every region of Washington and across the United States. By doing so, you will be connecting to a community that is already taking a stand against senseless gun violence. Thanks for your time today. Together—and with your courage and leadership—we can help make the epidemic of gun violence a thing of the past. Sincerely, Cheryl Stumbo Citizen Sponsor of 1-594 Outreach Associate for Everytown for Gun Safety P.S. My father is a target shooter and a hunter—he supports comprehensive criminal background checks, too, and hopes you will join our coalition. EVERYTOWN F*R OUN SAFETY MAYORSAGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS ABOUT MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a program of Everytown for Gun Safety, is a national, bipartisan coalition of mayors working to make America's communities safer by cracking down on illegal guns. Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 mayors of major American cities to more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters—making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country. The bipartisan coalition, founded by former New York City Michael Bloomberg and former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has united mayors, gun violence survivors and everyday Americans around these common goals: protecting communities by holding gun offenders accountable; demanding access to crime gun trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat gun trafficking; and working with legislators to fix weakness and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other dangerous people to get guns. The group recently joined forces with Moms Demand Action, the leading grassroots movement of American mothers working to prevent gun violence. Every day, 33 Americans are murdered with guns —that's 12,000 people killed with guns every year. Mayors Against Illegal Guns advocates for common-sense measures that will keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people while respecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. The coalition is committed to pursuing policies to close the deadly gaps in the national gun background check system that give criminals, terrorists, domestic violence offenders, the seriously mentally ill and other dangerous people easy access to firearms. We also work on policies that make sure law enforcement agencies have the tools and resources they need to effectively crack down on illegal gun trafficking in our communities and along the U.S.-Mexico border. In the summer of 2012, after the shooting tragedies in Aurora, Colorado, and Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a group of survivors and family members of victims of the January 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona,joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns to launch a national campaign to Demand a Plan, urging our elected leaders to present their plans to end the gun violence that murders 33 people every day in the U.S. This campaign became all the more urgent following the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. After the President responded with gun law reform recommendations and the Senate Judiciary sent bills with all of the campaign's major priorities to the Senate Floor, the campaign changed to Demand Action. Learn more about our recent work at www.ev Mayors Against Illegal Guns 1 MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGALGUNS WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE STAND FOR • Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a bipartisan coalition of mayors from big cities and small towns across the nation, co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Tom Menino, dedicated to making America's communities safer by cracking down on illegal guns. • We have more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters, making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country. • We believe that support for the Second Amendment goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and other dangerous people. • Every day, 33 Americans are murdered with guns. As one of the first people to get the call when a police officer or a child has been shot in their community, mayors know all too well the terrible toll of this gun violence and the importance of protecting their communities from illegal guns. • In April 2006, a group of 15 mayors held a summit in New York City and decided to form a coalition to advocate for common sense gun laws and share best practices for combating illegal guns. Since then, the coalition has grown to more than 1,000 current and former mayors from around the country, including Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, committed to fighting gun crime and to giving law enforcement agencies the tools they need to keep guns out of criminal hands. • Our top legislative priority is passing comprehensive and enforceable background checks for gun sales. We support the bipartisan Manchin-Toomey compromise, narrowly blocked by a minority of Senators in April 2013, and the King-Thompson bill currently pending in the House, which would require background checks for all guns sold at gun shows, online, and through classified ads. • Our common-sense proposals for reducing gun crime are supported by a wide range of Americans, including a majority of gun owners. More than 90% of Americans, including 82% of gun owners and 74% of NRA members, support background checks for all gun sales. • We partner with a wide range of organizations around the country and across the political spectrum, including Moms Demand Action, law enforcement, domestic violence prevention advocates and faith leaders. • Learn more about the coalition at www.ever town.or . Follow us on Facebook at iLttps://www,facebook.coiii/ever _y.LownUSA and Twitter at @EverytQwLi. Mayors Against Illegal Guns 2 BACKGROUND CHECKS GUN BACKGROUND CHECKS REDUCE CRIME AND SAVE LIVES Background checks are the only systematic way to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. But under current federal law, background checks are only required for gun sales at licensed dealers.An estimated 40 percent of gun transfers take place between "private" parties—often at gun shows or through anonymous online transactions—and are not subject to a federal background check.Last year,an estimated 6.6 million guns were transferred this way—no checks,no records,no questions asked. Sixteen states and Washington,DC,go beyond federal law by requiring a background check for private handgun sales:CA,CT, 1A, Hl, IL, MD, MA, Ml, NE, NJ, NY,NC,PA, RI,and as of 2013,CO and DE. Evidence from these states shows that requiring a background check for private gun sales reduces crime and saves lives. WOMEN MURDERED BY 6 INTIMATE PARTNERS 5 38% In states that require a background check for private handgun sales, 3 38 percent fewer women are shot to death by their intimate partners. 2 0 NON-FIREARM HOMICIDE FIREARM HOMICIDE DATA; FBI SUPPLEMENTARY HOMICIDE REPORT AND FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT,2010. *NEW YORK EXCLUDED DUE TO INCOMPLETE DATA. SUICIDE 49% 7 In states that require a 6 background check for 5 private handgun sales, there are 49 percent 8 cS 4 fewer firearm suicides, while the rates of suicide a. 3 by other methods are nearly identical. 9 2 0 NON-FIREARM SUICIDE FIREARM SUICIDE DATA: U.S.CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION(CDC), 2010. BACKGROUND CHECKS C AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS 60 WITH FIREARMS o r r �r" 17% a 50 0 ci I i I ° 40 a In states that require background 30 checks for all handgun sales, there are 17%fewer firearm aggravated W 20 assaults. 10 LL e 0 VV DATA: FBI UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS, 2011. NY, IL, HI AND MS EXCLUDED DUE TO INSUFFICIENT DATA POLICE KILLED WITH 0.16 HANDGUNS % z N 0 0.12 O O O O In states that require background a „„ checks for private handgun sales, o 0,08 39 percent fewer law enforcement o are shot to death with handguns. g 0 0.04 z k` 4C 0.00 DATA: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION,2001-2011. LAW ENFORCEMENT KILLED WITH HANDGUNS THAT WERE NOT THEIR OWN. CRIME GUNS TRAFFICKED 21 TO OTHER STATES 16 �N r 64% z N 15 States that require a background o check for private handgun sales o 12 `exported' 64 percent fewer crime H s guns—guns originally sold o 9II in-state that were later recovered 6 at crime scenes in other states. o ! r � m 0 �I IIV IVI VII DATA: BUREAU OF ALCOHOL,TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES, 2009 MAYORSAGAINST ILLEGALIGUNS STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES Whereas: 30,000 Americans across the country are killed every year as a result of gun violence - including 12,000 who are murdered -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- interfere with the ability of the Bureau of criminals who possess, use, and traffic in Alcohol,Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to illegal guns. combat illegal gun trafficking. TARGET and hold accountable irresponsible gun WORK to develop and use technologies that aid in dealers who break the law by knowingly selling the detection and tracing of illegal guns. guns to straw purchasers. EXTEND background check requirements to all gun SUPPORT all local, state, and federal legislation sales, including the private sales that take place that targets illegal guns; coordinate legislative, online and at gun shows. enforcement, and litigation strategies; and share OPPOSE all federal efforts to restrict cities'right information and best practices. to access, use, and share trace data that is INVITE other cities to join us in this new so essential to effective enforcement, or to national effort. TO JOIN MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS, please print and sign the statement below, and send a scanned copy to mayors @everytown.org or fax it to (917)410-6932. MAYOR'S SIGNATURE GATE MAYOR'S NAME-please print MAYOR'S OFFICE,AGGRESS CITY,STATE„ZIP MAYOR'S TELEPHONE MAYOR'S EMAIL,ADDRESS facebook.corn/ MAYOR'S FACEGOOA URL MAYOR'S TWITTER HANDLE STAFF CONTACT NAME STAFF MEMBER'S TELEPHONE STAFF TITLE STAFF EMAIL MAYORAL TERM -MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY ELECTED AS-e.g.Rep.,Dem.,Ind.,non-partisan MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS