Sister Of Newtown Victim, Survivor Of Tucson Shooting, Mayor Cownie, And Advocates Rally To Support Sensible Gun Laws, Hold Senator Grassley Accountable For Opposing Background Checks

Grassley Voted Against Background Checks Even Though 88 Percent of Iowans Support Them; Participants Thank Senator Harkin for Supporting Common-Sense, Bipartisan Gun Legislation

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

DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A broad coalition of gun violence prevention advocates – including the sister of a victim of the Newtown massacre, a survivor of the 2011 Tucson mass shooting, Mayor Frank Cownie, state lawmakers, and faith leaders – held a rally in Union Park in Des Moines 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 eight member mayors and more than 14,000 grassroots supporters in Iowa.

Participants and attendees came together to voice their support for comprehensive and enforceable background checks, and they held Senator Chuck Grassley accountable for voting against this life-saving measure. They also thanked Senator Tom Harkin for supporting bipartisan background checks legislation in April.

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, including Senator Harkin – would have closed this dangerous loophole by extending background checks to cover commercial gun sales. But in April, Senator Grassley voted to block this sensible legislation, despite the fact that 88 percent of Iowans support background checks for all gun sales.

While Senator Harkin stood with his constituents and voted to support this tough-on-crime bill, Senator Grassley instead chose to side with the Washington gun lobby and voted to maintain a loophole that allows dangerous people to easily obtain guns.

"Every day, more and more Americans are being killed by the epidemic of gun violence across this country," said Carlee Soto, whose sister Victoria, a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, was killed in the Newtown massacre. "The families of victims are demanding action from our leaders to reduce the bloodshed and help save lives. It's time they showed the same courage as my sister and did what's right for the American people."

"As a very fortunate survivor of the mass shooting on January 8, 2011 in Tucson, my eyes are wide open to the fact that the United States has a very serious problem with gun violence," said Patricia Maisch, who helped wrestle away the gunman's ammunition magazine. "Our leaders gave us a moment of silence then, but what we truly needed was action.  Now, in the wake of Aurora, of Oak Creek, of Newtown, Americans have had enough bloodshed of innocents and are demanding reasonable, common-sense gun legislation to help stop the carnage and to help save lives. Senator Grassley should stop giving priority to the wishes of the gun lobby over the public health and safety of his constituents and all Americans."

"Along with more than 1,000 mayors and millions of Americans across the nation, I urge Congress to support common-sense background checks that will keep guns out of the wrong hands and help save lives," said Mayor Frank Cownie of Des Moines, a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. "Thirty-three Americans are being murdered with guns each and every day in this country – our leaders cannot afford to sit idly by without taking meaningful action reduce gun violence. They need to put politics aside and public safety first."

"Despite the fact that 88 percent of Iowans support background checks for all gun sales, Senator Grassley disregarded the will of his constituents and instead voted with the gun lobby when he opposed this common-sense measure in April," said State Senator Jack Hatch. "I thank Senator Harkin for doing the right thing by supporting bipartisan background checks legislation that would help save lives. It's time for his colleagues to follow his lead."

Participants included: Carlee Soto, whose sister Victoria, a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, was killed in the Newtown massacre; Pat Maisch, a survivor of the 2011 Tucson mass shooting who wrestled away the gunman's ammunition magazine; Mayor Frank Cownie of Des Moines, a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns; State Senator Jack Hatch; State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad; and Revered Cheryl Thomas, Executive Director of Iowans for Gun Safety.

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

Along with 15 other states and the District of Columbia, Iowa 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:

• 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.[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]

But only a national solution can stop the flow of illegal guns into Iowa. Despite its tough-on-crime background check laws at the state level, in 2011 nearly one-in-three guns that were recovered at Iowa crime scenes were originally purchased out-of-state.[5]

In trying to justify his opposition to background checks, Senator Grassley falsely claimed the Manchin-Toomey amendment "would start us down the road to registration."[6] In reality, the legislation would actually strengthen the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens by reaffirming existing federal laws that already prohibit a national registry of gun owners and buyers.

Instead of voting for the Manchin-Toomey amendment, Senator Grassley introduced legislation – created by the Washington gun lobby – that would actually weaken the current system that prevents the seriously mentally ill from buying guns. The Grassley-Cruz amendment, which failed in the U.S. Senate, would:

• Reduce 2013 federal funding to help states submit records to the background check system by 84 percent.[7]
• Enable people with serious mental illness to buy guns as soon as their commitment orders expire, allowing people recently hospitalized and still recovering from a mental health crisis to go directly from the hospital to a gun store – and legally buy a firearm.[8]
• Eliminate provisions that currently prevent seriously mentally ill people from buying guns – allowing people to buy guns if they have been found to lack the mental capacity to manage their own affairs.[9]

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. With more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters – including more than 14,000 in Iowa – 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] 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).
[5] Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firearms Trace Data – 2011, available at http://1.usa.gov/XX2yid
[6] U.S. Senate floor speech, April 17, 201, transcript available at http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/transcript/transcript.php?id=217385 
[7] Bill text, page 3, line 17 – page 4, line 1
[8] Bill text, page 9, lines 11-13
[9] Bill text, page 7, line 8 – page 9, line 5

CONTACTS
Alex Katz: [email protected] or 646-324-8245
Stacey Radnor: [email protected] or 202-870-6668
Lizzie Ulmer: [email protected] or 269-271-2331

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED