Sister Of Newtown Victim, Mayor Coleman, Faith Leaders, Gun Owners, And Local Advocates Hold Rally In Columbus Urging Senator Portman To Support Common-Sense Background Checks

Portman Voted Against Background Checks Even Though 83 Percent of Ohioans Support Them; Participants Thank Senator Brown for Voting in Favor of Sensible Gun Legislation

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

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A broad coalition of gun violence prevention advocates – including the sister of a victim of the Newtown massacre, Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman, State Representative Tracy Maxwell Heard, Columbus City Councilmember Michelle Mills, local gun owners, and faith leaders – held a rally in Columbus 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 tour is sponsored by the bipartisan coalition Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which has nearly 100 member mayors and more than 81,000 grassroots supporters in Ohio.

Participants and attendees came together Tuesday to voice their support for comprehensive and enforceable background checks, and they urged Senator Rob Portman to reconsider his position on this life-saving measure and take another look at bipartisan background checks legislation that would help keep guns out of the wrong hands. They also thanked Senator Sherrod Brown for supporting common-sense gun laws that would help protect communities in Ohio and 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 Republican Pat Toomey and Democrat Joe Manchin – and supported by a majority of U.S. senators, including Senator Brown – would have closed this dangerous loophole by extending background checks to cover commercial gun sales. But in April, Senator Portman voted to block this sensible legislation, despite the fact that 83 percent of Ohioans support background checks for all gun sales.  

"Tragic mass shootings like the one in Newtown opened our country's eyes to the fact that we have a serious problem with gun violence in America," said Carlee Soto, whose sister Victoria, a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, was killed in the Newtown massacre. "Our leaders cannot afford to wait any longer to take meaningful action. We need our elected officials in Congress, including Senator Portman, to put politics aside and support sensible gun safety measures, like comprehensive and enforceable background checks."

"I am proud to join with more than 1,000 mayors nationwide in the fight to reduce gun violence in America," said Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman, a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. "With 33 Americans being murdered with guns every day in this country, it's time for our leaders in Washington to pass sensible public safety measures – like comprehensive and enforceable background checks – that will help keep guns out of the wrong hands and save lives."

"Eighty-three percent of Ohioans support comprehensive background checks to keep Ohio's communities safe from the scourge of gun violence,"  said Democratic House Leader Tracy Maxwell Heard. "It's time for leaders like Senator Portman to stand with the people he represents, and to take another look at bipartisan legislation that will defend the public safety needs of people across the state. Special interests should take a back seat to Ohioans' security and welfare."

"As a gun owner, I know that respect for the Second Amendment goes hand-in-hand with doing everything in our power to keep guns away from dangerous individuals," said Keith Whittington, a local gun owner. "I'm not alone in this thinking: More than 80 percent of gun owners across the nation believe that with our right to bear arms comes a responsibility to protect our communities and our loved ones. Now, we need our representatives in Congress – including Senator Rob Portman – to support common-sense background checks."

"Background checks are the most effective way to keep guns away from dangerous people," said Columbus City Councilmember Michelle Mills. "I thank Senator Brown for supporting legislation to extend this sensible measure to cover private gun sales in commercial settings."

Participants in Tuesday's event included: Carlee Soto, whose sister Victoria, a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, was killed in the Newtown massacre; Mayor Michael B. Coleman of Columbus; State Representative and Democratic House Leader Tracy Maxwell; Columbus City Councilmember Michelle Mills; Pastor Amy Miracle of the Broad Street Presbyterian Church; Keith Whittington, a local gun owner; and local advocates.

During the event, participants and attendees also read the names of victims of gun violence who have been killed since the Newtown mass shooting in December 2012.

Rates of gun violence in Ohio are higher than in the rest of the country:

• In 2010, the number of suicides committed with firearms in Ohio was 53 percent higher than in states that require background checks for private handgun sales.[1]
• In 2009, the number of guns sold by Ohio firearms dealers that were trafficked across state lines and recovered at crime scenes outside of the state was 11 percent more than the national average and 152 percent higher than in states that require background checks for private handgun sales.[2]

In trying to justify his vote against the Toomey-Manchin amendment, Senator Portman falsely claimed that there is "discussion of a new, national gun registry connected with universal background checks."[3] But in truth, federal law already outlaws a national firearms registry, and the Toomey-Manchin amendment would have helped strengthen the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners by reaffirming this ban.

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.

Evidence demonstrates that background checks help save lives. 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.[4]
• 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.[5]
• 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.[6]
• Thirty-nine percent fewer law enforcement officers were shot to death with handguns.[7]

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. With more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters – including more than 81,000 in Ohio – the coalition is 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] Centers for Disease Control. Fatal Injury Reports. 2010.
[2] Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 2009. Available at www.TraceTheGuns.org 
[3] http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/05/seantor-rob-portman-our-right-to-bear-arms/ 
[4] Daniel Webster, Jon Vernick, and Maria Bulzacchelli, "Effects of State-Level Firearm Seller Accountability Policies on Firearm Trafficking," Journal of Urban Health, July 2009.
[5] U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Supplementary Homicide Reports, 2010.
[6] 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].
[7] Federal Bureau of Investigation. LEOKA Database, 2001-2011 (Accessed Mar. 2013).

CONTACTS
Alex Katz: [email protected] or 646-324-8245
Joy Cameron: [email protected] or 505-681-0303
Lizzie Ulmer: [email protected] or 269-271-2331

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns

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