Message from the Co-Chairs

As mayors, our highest responsibility is to enforce the law and to protect the people we serve. One of the most difficult challenges we face in meeting this responsibility is preventing criminals from illegally obtaining guns and using them. The issue of illegal guns is not conservative or liberal; it is an issue of law and order -- and life or death.

We support the Second Amendment and the rights of citizens to own guns. We recognize that the vast majority of gun dealers and gun owners carefully follow the law. And we know that a policy that is appropriate for a small town in one region of the country is not necessarily appropriate for a big city in another region of the country.

But what binds us together is a determination to fight crime, and a belief that we can do more to stop criminals from getting guns while also protecting the rights of citizens to freely own them.  We have seen how the polarizing rhetoric of gun politics on all sides only obscures the tragic reality we see every day on our streets: violent criminals with easy access to illegal guns.

We are honored that more than 500 mayors from big cities and small towns from across the country have joined the coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and we welcome other mayors to stand with us. We are committed to working with our fellow mayors to share best practices, develop innovative policies, and support legislation at the national, state, and local levels that will help law enforcement target illegal guns.

Each mayor in this coalition has signed a statement of principles committing us to this fight. While we will each have different strategies for pursuing those principles, we all agree on the goal: protecting the rights of Americans to own guns, while fighting to keep criminals from possessing guns illegally.

We welcome further contributions to this Web site from our members and we hope it will be a comprehensive resource for each of us as we move forward together to make all cities safer.

Sincerely,

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg New York, NY		Mayor Thomas M. Menino Boston, MA