Mayors Against Illegal Guns Statement on President Obama's Comments on Gun Policy

NEW YORK, March 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino released the following statement in response to President Obama's comments about gun policy in the March 13 Arizona Daily Star.  The mayors are co-chairs of the bipartisan Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition.

Today, President Obama signaled he has heard the message of more than 550 mayors - Republicans, Democrats, and independents - who support common-sense reform of our broken gun background check system.  Our coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns has proposed a straightforward plan to fix the problem the President discussed: people who are legally prohibited from owning guns can easily buy them.  First, we must ensure that all records of prohibited purchasers like criminals, drug abusers, domestic violence offenders and the seriously mentally ill are in the federal background check system.  Second, we should make sure every gun seller performs a simple background check.

We strongly agree with the President that we can - and must - respect the Second Amendment and the rights of law-abiding gun owners while still tackling this problem.  And we look forward to working with him to ensure that the new national dialogue he has called for culminates in real solutions.

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Since its inception in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 mayors to over 550. Mayors Against Illegal Guns has united the nation's mayors around these common goals: protecting their communities by holding gun offenders and irresponsible gun dealers accountable, demanding access to trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat illegal gun trafficking, and working with legislators to fix gaps, weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other prohibited purchasers to get guns.

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns

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