Mayor Rybak Calls for Tougher Illegal Gun Laws
National Summit Unites Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Renews Call for Action
Jan. 24, 2007 (MINNEAPOLIS) -- Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak yesterday joined more than fifty U.S. Mayors from around the country to call on the new Congress to get tough on illegal gun sales by eliminating federal restrictions to data on guns used in crimes.
“There are too many guns in our city, in our state and in our country,” Rybak said. “Month after month our police officers seize record amounts of guns from our streets and month after month more guns show up in our city. Last year alone, Minneapolis police seized nearly 1,300 guns from our streets. This is a national problem that must be addressed at a national level.”
Yesterday in Washington, DC Mayor Rybak and mayors from around the country gathered to discuss ways to combat the sale, use and possession of illegal guns. The Summit was the first meeting of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition since being created in April 2006. As a result of that first meeting, Mayor Rybak and fifteen other mayors from across the signed a Statement of Principles pledging to fight illegal guns and build a coalition of leaders from across the country to eliminate federal restrictions on access to data on guns used in crimes.
“We will fight hard to get guns off the streets of Minneapolis and we will fight hard with other mayors to change federal laws that give too much protection to the peddlers of deadly, illegal guns,” Rybak said. “By using data to trace guns used in crimes, we can identify those gun dealers who are the worst offenders of illegal gun sales and take enforcement action against them.”
It is estimated that only one percent of gun dealers account for sixty percent of all guns used in crimes. If allowed access to “trace data,” law enforcement officials can track guns used in crimes back to the seller, providing valuable evidence that helps to solve crimes. However, in recent years, Congress has limited cities’ access to this trace data, prohibiting local law enforcement from key criminal evidence.
“Mayors from cities big and small, from across the political spectrum, agree it’s time to start finding common ground on real solutions to this problem and get tough on those small minority of gun sellers who repeatedly violate the law and put our cities in harms way,” Rybak said.
“We face a serious crime problem in our city that is driven by illegal gun possession. We need tougher gun laws and we will fight for them. Our fight against illegal guns needs to reach beyond the borders of Minneapolis and beyond the borders of partisanship,” Rybak said. “This country needs to maximize penalties for those who posses, use and traffic in illegal guns, and hold the worst gun dealers accountable for their actions.”
The Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition is dedicated to making America's cities safer by cracking down on illegal guns. 30,000 Americans are killed every year as a result of gun violence, destroying families and harming communities. More information about the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition is http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org.
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