Sister Of Gun Violence Victim, Congressman Pallone, Aberdeen Mayor, Faith Leaders And Local Advocates Gather In New Brunswick To Urge Support For Background Checks

Congressman Pallone Joins Participants to Urge New Jersey Lawmakers to Co-Sponsor Bipartisan House Bill To Keep Guns Out of the Wrong Hands; 90 Percent of Americans Support Common-Sense Background Checks

Event is Part of "No More Names: National Drive to Reduce Gun Violence" Bus Tour; www.NoMoreNames.org

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Sept. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressman Frank Pallone, a sister of a gun violence victim from Newark, Mayor Fred Tagliarini of Aberdeen, faith leaders and local advocates gathered in New Brunswick today 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. The event was organized by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan coalition of more than 1,000 mayors and 1.5 million grassroots supporters nationwide – including more than 58,000 in New Jersey.

Participants came together Wednesday to voice their support for comprehensive background checks and they urged New Jersey lawmakers to support bipartisan legislation that would extend background checks to cover private gun sales in commercial settings. Those in attendance also urged Congress to support this life-saving measure.

Participants in Wednesday's event included: Congressman Frank Pallone; Mayor Fred Tagliarini of Aberdeen; Deputy Mayor Robert Russo of Montclair; Carole Stiller, NJ State President Million Mom March Chapters; Nicola Bocour of Ceasefire NJ; Marcia Marley, Executive Director of BlueWaveNJ; Dianthe Dawn Martinez, whose brother Khary Orr was murdered with a gun in Newark; New Brunswick Councilman and Ordained Minister Glenn J. Fleming; and Pastor David Confer, a Lutheran Minister and Faith Based Leader in NJ.

"We have all seen the deadly consequences of allowing criminals easy access to guns," said Congressman Frank Pallone. "Background checks at the point of sale keep guns away from people who should not have them and save lives - all without infringing on anyone's Second Amendment rights. Every day, 33 Americans are murdered with guns, and we won't stop fighting for common-sense gun laws until Congress acts."

"It's been nearly 9 months since the tragedy in Newtown and there still has been no action from Congress," said Aberdeen Mayor Fred Tagliarini. "I'm proud to join with the No More Names bus tour because we need stronger laws to keep guns away from criminals, and we won't rest until there is federal action to put those laws in place."

"We see the reports of gun deaths in Newark and Trenton and all across New Jersey with startling regularity," said Nicola Bocour of Ceasefire NJ. "But, we cannot let each obituary pass by without understanding the toll that these deaths leave on communities and families. Thousands more have been written since Newtown alone, and until Congress acts, gun violence will continue to be as destructive a force all across the country."

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 – and supported by a majority of U.S. senators – would have closed this dangerous loophole by extending background checks to cover private gun sales in commercial settings. But in April, a minority of senators voted to block this common-sense measure.  

Along with 15 other states and the District of Columbia, New Jersey goes beyond federal law by requiring background checks before private handgun sales.[1] In turn, the state has seen the public safety benefits of enacting this common-sense measure. In states that already require background checks for all handgun sales:

• Thirty-eight percent fewer women are shot to death by an intimate partner than in other states, while the rate murdered by other means was nearly identical.[2]
• 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.[3]
• Thirty-nine percent fewer law enforcement officers were shot to death with handguns.[4]

The No More Names tour provides an opportunity for the more than 90 percent of Americans who support background checks to drive home a message to our elected officials that our country needs common-sense gun laws. At each stop, participants are holding rallies with a broad coalition of supporters – including police, survivors, domestic violence prevention advocates, mayors, and other elected officials – to commemorate those we've lost and call on our leaders to stand with the American people on sensible gun policies. They both applaud senators who voted to support comprehensive and enforceable background checks, and urge those who opposed this measure to take a second look.

States on the tour include: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin. For more information, please visit www.NoMoreNames.org.

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 members to more than 1,000 mayors from across the country. The coalition has more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters – including more than 121,000 in New York – making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country. The bipartisan organization, 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] Colorado and Delaware enacted legislation in 2013, and did not require background checks during the period analyzed.
[2] U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Supplementary Homicide Reports, 2010.
[3] 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].
[4] Federal Bureau of Investigation. LEOKA Database, 2001-2011 (Accessed Mar. 2013).

CONTACTS
Lizzie Ulmer: [email protected] or 269-271-2331
Stacey Radnor: [email protected] or 202-870-6668

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns

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