WASHINGTON – Victims of gun violence joined Boston Mayor Thomas Menino today to pressure lawmakers to vastly improve background checks for gun purchases.

Menino, Senator Charles Schumer, Representative Carolyn McCarthy, and more than 50 victims on Capitol Hill called on legislators to ensure that people with records of mental illness and drug abuse are added to a national database of prohibited purchasers.

“It’s time to make a decision to protect the American people,” Menino said. “We have no political agenda – only a life-saving one.”

In 2006, Menino and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg created Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition that advocates for stricter gun-control laws and now includes more than 600 mayors from 40 states. Bloomberg was originally slated to join Menino here but was unable leave New York after issues arose following the city’s dismantling of the “Occupy Wall Street” encampment.

Menino touted the Boston’s recent success in this area, telling reporters that police have taken more than 360 illegal guns off the streets. But the mayor stressed that the issue extends far beyond the city, and even the Bay State. “We need national leadership to fix a broken background-check system,” he said.

Among the victims here today were Kim and Ronald Odom, whose 13-year-old son, Steven, was shot and killed near the family’s Dorchester home in 2007. The couple met with Bay State lawmakers, including Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, and helped lend their support for what Ronald Odom, 53, called “a critical issue with a lot of energy behind it.”

“This means the world to me right now,” he said. “But it’s not only important for our family – it’s important for the community at large.”