Sister Of Gun Violence Victim, New Jersey Mayors, Faith Leaders And Local Advocates To Gather In New Brunswick To Urge Support For Background Checks

Participants to Urge Representative Lance and Other 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

***MEDIA AND EVENT ADVISORY***

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Sept. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, September 4^th, the sister of a gun violence victim, New Jersey mayors, faith leaders and local advocates will gather in New Brunswick 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 Wednesday to voice their support for comprehensive background checks and they will urge New Jersey lawmakers – including Congressman Leonard Lance – to support bipartisan legislation that would extend background checks to cover private gun sales in commercial settings. They will also urge Congress to support this life-saving measure.

This past March, polling found that 92 percent of Congressman Leonard Lance's constituents in New Jersey's 7^th Congressional District support common-sense background checks that would help keep guns out of the hands of felons, domestic abusers, the seriously mentally ill, and other dangerous individuals; and 90 percent of Americans support this life-saving measure as well.

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.  

The event is being 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. 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 prioritize the safety of the people they represent.

What: Event to urge Congress to support common-sense background checks legislation that will keep guns away from dangerous individuals and help save lives

Who: - New Brunswick Councilman and Ordained Minister Glenn J. Fleming
- Rev. William David Jefferson, Sr., Senior Pastor of Metropolitan Baptist Church in Newark
- Mayor Susan Cohen of Manalapan
- Mayor Fred Tagliarini of Aberdeen
- Carole Stiller, NJ State President Million Mom March Chapters
- Nicola Bocour, CeaseFire-NJ
- Dianthe Dawn Martinez, brother Khary Orr was murdered with a gun in Newark

Where: Voorhees Mall
Rutgers University                    
Seminary Place (near statue of William the Silent)         
New Brunswick, NJ 08901     

When: Wednesday, September 4^th at 11:00 AM

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, making it the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country. Co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Mayors Against Illegal Guns 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  

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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