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 preventing those who do get them from 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 respect the rights of law abiding citizens to own guns, and we recognize that the vast majority of gun dealers carefully follow the law. Our only interest is in fighting crime -- and we are determined to win. 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 firearms.

We are extremely pleased that over 250 mayors from more than 40 states have joined the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, and we welcome other mayors to stand with us. Over the coming months, we will continue to work 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.

We have all 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: making the public safer by getting illegal guns off our streets.

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