Nevada Governor Vetoes Common-Sense Gun Legislation on Eve of Six-Month Anniversary of Newtown Shooting That Killed 26; Mayors Against Illegal Guns Co-Chairs Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Mayor Thomas M. Menino Issue Statements

NEW YORK, June 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the eve of the six-month anniversary of the murder of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval vetoed gun reform legislation that would require background checks for all firearm sales and improve reporting of mental health records to the national background check system. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino issued the following statements:

"Rather than sign sensible legislation that keeps guns out of the hands of convicted felons and the mentally ill, Governor Sandoval has decided to preserve the loopholes that they use to buy guns," said Mayors Against Illegal Guns Co-Chair and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. "The state legislature and 86 percent of Nevadans support comprehensive background checks, but this veto means that criminals and the dangerously mentally ill will continue to get a free pass in Nevada."

"By vetoing legislation that would close the private sale loophole Governor Sandoval has sided with the gun lobby rather than listening to Nevadans," said Mayors Against Illegal Guns Co-Chair and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.  "Today Governor Sandoval turned his back on the safety of his constituents."

Evidence demonstrates that Nevada needs SB 221 to help save lives:

Nevada's weak laws attract out-of-state criminals.

• Nevada's crime gun export rate is twice the national average and ninth highest among U.S. states. This means that guns sold in Nevada are found at crime scenes in other states at twice the national rate. Click here for more information.

Nevada's state government is failing to submit mental health records to the background check system, allowing the seriously mentally ill to buy guns.

• Nevada has submitted just 887 mental health records to the gun background check system, which puts it amongst the poorest performing U.S. states. Click here for more information on gaps in the background check system.

Nevada's gun-crime rate is higher than average.

• Nevada is one of thirteen states where firearm deaths exceeded motor vehicle deaths.[1] Over the last decade, women in Nevada were 46% more likely to be killed with a gun than women in other states.[2]

In states that already require background checks for all handgun sales:

• Gun trafficking was 48 percent lower than in states that fail to require background checks for all handgun sales.[3]
• The rate of women murdered by an intimate partner with a gun was 38 percent lower than in other states, while the rate murdered by other means was nearly identical.[4]
• The firearm suicide rate was 49 percent lower than in other states, even though people committed suicide in other ways at almost precisely the same rate.[5]
• Thirty-nine percent fewer law enforcement officers were shot to death with handguns.[6]

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

[1] CDC, Fatal Injury Reports, 2010.

[2] Female gun homicide rate 2001-10. See: Center For American Progress, "America Under The Gun."

[3] Daniel Webster, Jon Vernick, and Maria Bulzacchelli, "Effects of State-Level Firearm Seller Accountability Policies on Firearm Trafficking," Journal of Urban Health, July 2009.

[4] U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Supplementary Homicide Reports, 2010.

[5] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [online]. (2005) [cited 2012 Dec. 20].

[6] Federal Bureau of Investigation. LEOKA Database, 2001-2011 (Accessed Mar. 2013).

Contact:
Mayor Bloomberg's Press Office (212) 788-2958
Mayor Menino's Press Office (617) 635-4461

Jack Warner: [email protected] or 914-575-1090
Kate Downen: [email protected] or 406-224-5056

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns

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