ByThe Associated Press
September 21, 2009, 6:30PM

Holyoke Mayor Michael J. Sullivan has taken heat for some of his decisions, but he didn’t know what it was like to draw fire until he crossed the sights of the National Rifle Association.

“I’ve hired a police chief from the outside,” Sullivan said. “I’ve closed schools. I’ve never gotten more calls than I’ve gotten about this.”

The powerful association of gun-rights advocates has targeted Sullivan and other local mayors who belong to the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Over the past few weeks, the association has sent mailings to its members denouncing the group and urging citizens to pressure their mayors to dissociate themselves from the organization.

In Easthampton, Mayor Michael A. Tautznik said he received eight to 10 responses because of the mailing, enough to convince him with withdraw from Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Tautznik, who is facing a four-way race for his job in November, said he feared the emotions stirred up by the National Rifle Association’s letter would polarize the political atmosphere and distract voters from the real issues.

“This really isn’t a local issue,” he said. “I thought it would be quicker for the community to just end it.”

Tautznik, who worked at a sporting goods store before he was elected mayor, is a gun owner and member of the National Rifle Association. Despite his withdrawal from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, he said he supports the group’s mission of removing illegal guns from the streets.

“I still believe this is laudable,” he said.

Founded by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has more than 450 members from throughout the country. In a statement on its Web site, the organization says it supports the Second Amendment and the rights of citizens to legally own guns.

The National Rifle Association disputes this, maintaining that Mayors Against Illegal Guns has an “anti-gun” agenda that targets law-abiding gun owners by bringing “bogus lawsuits against lawful firearm manufacturers.” According to the association’s site, its campaign has resulted in the withdrawal of 50 mayors from the group.

Sullivan is not among them. He said he has been in some heated discussions with citizens over the topic.

“The mission of Mayors Against Illegal Guns is to remove illegal guns from the street,” he said. “If anyone has a contrary position on that, I’m sorry.”

Sullivan noted that his city and nearby Springfield have had a rash of shooting deaths this year and guessed that all of them involved illegal guns.

“No one I talked to says they are for illegal guns,” he said. “(The National Rifle Association) wants to make any politician fearful and not likely to stand up for what’s right. It blows my mind.”

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, another member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, has not received any feedback from citizens contacted by the National Rifle Association, according to his communications director, Thomas T. Walsh.

Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins received one letter on the topic. It didn’t sway her.

“I’m not going to withdraw my membership,” she said.