BI-PARTISAN COALITION OF MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS LAUNCHES NEW TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT TO URGE REPEAL OF TIAHRT AMENDMENT

Patricia Tucker, Widow of Fallen Police Officer Mark Tucker, is Narrator

Ads Will First Run in Congressional Districts of Rep. Allan Mollohan (D-WV), Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and in Washington D.C.

New Moving Billboard Drives Mayors' Message Around Washington D.C.

The bi-partisan coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns today launched a new television advertisement in targeted congressional districts urging the repeal of the Tiahrt Amendment. The advertisement, featuring the widow of a fallen police officer, is the latest part of the coalition's protectpolice.org internet, television and print media campaign. The mayors oppose the Tiahrt Amendment, named after Kansas Representative Todd Tiahrt who has sponsored it, because of how it restricts the access of cities and law enforcement to gun trace data, an essential crime fighting tool. The removal of the Tiahrt Amendment is the top legislative priority of the over 225-member Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition, co-chaired by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. Yesterday, the Senate Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) took the first step in removing the Tiahrt Amendment language from the key appropriations bill, the mayors' campaign seeks to achieve similar results in the House of Representatives. The new advertisements are available on www.protectpolice.org/tucker.

"Patricia Tucker knows first hand the pain wrought by illegal guns," Mayor Bloomberg said. "I hope her common sense message urging the repeal of the Tiahrt Amendment resonates with members of Congress, because this Amendment only helps illegal gun traffickers and rogue gun dealers, while it endangers the police and public. I urge the House of Representatives to follow the example set by Senator Mikulski and remove the Tiahrt Amendment from the House appropriations bill."

"Unfortunately, Patricia Tucker is only one of many widows of fallen Police Officers whose families were shattered because of the violence caused by the proliferation of illegal guns," Mayor Menino said. "Just last week we had a Boston Police Officer shot, thankfully he was not killed, but it is a clear reminder of the number of illegal guns on the street in the hands of criminals ready to use them. It is imperative for the safety of our police officers, their families and our residents that we have the tools we need to track where these guns are coming from and who may be using them in our neighborhoods. The Tiahrt amendment jeopardizes the lives of our police officers and must be removed from the appropriations bill."

The new advertisement will run in Washington, DC, the Kansas district of Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), and the West Virginia district of Representative Allan Mollohan (D-WV) the Chair of the House Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee. In the version of the advertisement to air in the Kansas district of Representative Tiahrt, Patricia Tucker, widow of fallen Wake County, North Carolina Sheriff's Office Deputy Sherriff/Investigator Mark Tucker says the following:

"Mark's mission in life was to protect the community - to be the best police officer that he could be.

"A few years ago Mark was shot and killed, and the young man that killed him bought the gun illegally.

"While Mark and his fellow officers are out protecting the community, Congress is passing the Tiahrt Amendment, which prevent law enforcement from being able to track illegal weapons, and the criminals who purchase them.

"Please, Congressman Tiahrt, will you protect police officers, or criminals?"

The television advertisement is the latest part of the protectpolice.org media campaign the coalition launched to encourage the removal of the Tiahrt Amendment. A new moving billboard is also being driven around Washington D.C. featuring a poster asking "Why is Congress soft on crime?" Also, on Tuesday the Mayors delivered an open letter to Congress that ran as a full-page advertisement in USA Today. The letter, which is signed by 225 mayors who are members of the coalition, outlines the coalition's objections to the Tiahrt Amendment. In April, at a coalition event hosted by Jersey City, New Jersey Mayor Jerramiah Healy, the coalition announced the protectpolice.org media campaign's first television advertisements on broadcast and cable outlets in targeted Congressional districts. The first television advertisement featured Chaska, Minnesota Chief of Police Scott Knight and is available for viewing on www.protectpolice.org.

The Tiahrt Amendment, a version of which has been inserted into the Department of Justice appropriations bill each year since Fiscal Year 2003, places broad restrictions on the use of gun trace data. It also prevents local governments and police from accessing federal gun trace data from areas outside their immediate geographic jurisdiction; prevents cities from use of trace data in state and local civil enforcement actions, including gun license revocations; and prevents the ATF from publishing reports that use gun trace data to analyze nationwide gun trafficking patterns.

The Mayors campaign to remove the Tiahrt Amendment enjoys wide support from law enforcement. Ten national law enforcement organizations - including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, and Major Cities Chiefs Association - and 23 state and regional law enforcement organizations, including the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police and the Texas Association of Chiefs of Police, as well as the American Hunters and Shooters Association have all joined the Mayors' call for the removal of the Tiahrt Amendment. For more information on the Tiahrt Amendment visit www.protectpolice.org and www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org.