Families Of Gun Violence Victims, Gun Owners, And Elected Officials To Hold Rally In Atlanta To Back Common-Sense Gun Laws, Urge Senators Isakson And Chambliss To Support Background Checks

ATLANTA, June 21, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Monday, June 24th, families of gun violence victims, gun owners, elected officials, faith leaders, and advocates will hold a rally in Atlanta, Georgia as part of the "No More Names: National Drive to Reduce Gun Violence" – a 25-state national bus tour over a period of 100 days aimed at urging America's leaders to support common-sense gun policies. Participants will come together Monday to voice their continued support for comprehensive and enforceable background checks, and they will urge Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss to reconsider their position on this life-saving measure and take another look at bipartisan background checks legislation.

It remains far too easy for criminals, domestic abusers, the seriously mentally ill, and other dangerous individuals – people who know they can't pass a background check – to skirt the law and obtain guns by purchasing them online or at gun shows, where background checks are not required under federal law. Bipartisan legislation sponsored by NRA A-rated Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey would have closed this dangerous loophole by extending background checks to commercial gun sales. But Senators Isakson and Chambliss voted to block this sensible legislation, despite the fact that 91 percent of Georgians support background checks for all gun sales.  

Every day, 33 Americans are murdered with guns in this country. "No More Names: National Drive to Reduce Gun Violence" is part of Mayors Against Illegal Guns' ongoing, national effort to continue raising awareness to the issue of gun violence in America – and most importantly, to urge elected officials to act on behalf of the people they represent.

What:   Families of gun violence victims, gun owners, elected officials, faith leaders, and advocates to voice support for common-sense background checks and urge Senators Isakson and Chambliss to back this life-saving measure.

Who:         

• Lucy McBath, mother of gun violence victim Jordan Davis
• John Starbuck, father of gun violence victim Meleia Starbuck
• State Sen. Vincent Forte
• State Sen. Nan Orrock
• Pastor Gary Charles, Central Presbyterian Church
• Alice Johnson, Georgians for Gun Safety
• Piyali Cole, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

Where:  Georgia State Capitol 
             206 Washington Street, SW 
             Atlanta, Georgia

When:    Monday, June 24^th  
              Press Conference Time: 11:30 a.m.

*For interview requests in advance and on-site, please contact John Duckwitz at 540-878-1136.

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 members to more than 950 mayors from across the country. We have more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters, making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country.  The bipartisan coalition, co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has united the nation's mayors 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 weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other dangerous people to get guns.  Learn more at www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org

MEDIA CONTACTS
Alex Katz: [email protected] or 212-788-7617
John Duckwitz: [email protected] or 540-878-1136
Lizzie Ulmer: [email protected] or 269-271-2331

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns

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