Saturday, January 15, 2011

By KATIE COLANERI
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Hoboken's Dawn Zimmer and Jersey City's Jeremiah T. Healy were among the throng of mayors from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania who stood with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday in the wake of the shootings in Tucson, Ariz., last weekend.

The mayors are all part of the coalition Mayors Against Illegal Guns - an organization that Bloomberg co-chairs - that supports Second Amendment rights while working to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.

Healy was invited to speak at Tuesday's press conference at New York City Hall, where the coalition presented its ideas for preventing shootings like the one in Tucson. Six people were killed and 12 others, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, were wounded.

"Now, a talented, hardworking congresswoman who is also a wife and mother is battling for her life after being shot at point-blank range. Something has to be done at a national level to address what is an obviously unacceptable, yet correctable situation," said Healy.

Zimmer, who was invited to be part of the organization this fall, described gun control as a "third rail" issue for municipalities.

"We're trying to raise awareness and push for change," she said in a brief phone interview yesterday. "It's such a tragedy what happened, but the hope is that out of this tragedy positive will come."