MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS COALITION

The 'Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition' is a coalition of mayors from 225 different United States cities, with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets."
The group was formed on April 25, 2006, during a summit held at Gracie Mansion in New York City that was hosted by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The initial group consisted of 15 mayors; the 15 drafted and signed a statement of principles^[1] and set a goal to expand their membership to 50 mayors by the end of 2006. That goal was met six months ahead of schedule, and led to its current membership of 225 mayors.^[2]
The Coalition contains mayors from both major political parties, and its statement of principles has received the endorsement of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Conference of Black Mayors
^[3].

Contents

Origin

Tiahrt Amendment

Criticism and Controversy

Participating Mayors

External Links

References

Origin

Mayors Against Illegal Guns is funded in part by a $175,000 grant
^[4]
from the Joyce Foundation, a Chicago-based non-profit organization which supports several anti-gun groups^[5].

Tiahrt Amendment

One of the primary goals of the organization is to undo the Tiahrt Amendment. Since its passage in 2003 as an amendment to an appropriations bill, the Amendment has shielded the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
★ (ATF) from having to release information from its firearms trace database to anyone other than a law enforcement agency or prosecutor in connection with a criminal investigation, and any data so released is deemed inadmissible in a civil lawsuit.^[6] The mayors contend that the Amendment restricts access of cities and law enforcement to gun trace data, hindering municipal police departments' ability to track down sellers of illegal guns.^[7] Mayor Bloomberg has called the Amendment "an insult to the thousands of police officers that face the threat of illegal guns."^[8] During a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Lady's Home Journal, Bloomberg called the Fraternal Order of Police a "fringe organization" after it opposed his efforts to repeal the Tiahrt Amendment. "I would say resident within the Fraternal Order of Police is far more expertise with the administration of justice than Mayor Bloomberg's limited experience in that area," shot back James Pasco, the group's executive director.^[9]
In July, 2007, after the House Appropriations Committee rebuffed attempts to repeal the amendment, the Senate Appropriations Committee went further, approving a bill that, according to the New York Times, "threatens law enforcement officials with prison time for using gun tracing data beyond a specific investigation, say, for identifying and targeting trafficking patterns."^[10]

Criticism and Controversy

The ATF, along with the Fraternal Order of Police^[11] and the Southern States Police Benevolent Association^[12] oppose repealing the Tiahrt Amendment.
Five mayors have withdrawn from the organization, claiming that they were misled about the group's anti-gun platform.^[13][14][15] They are: Idaho Falls Mayor Jared Fuhriman, Carmel%2C Indiana Mayor Jim Brainard, Rio Rancho%2C New Mexico Mayor Kevin Jackson, Anchorage, Alaska Mayor Mark Begich and Oldmans Township, New Jersey Mayor Harry Moore^[16].
Their actual goals are unclear, as in late 2003 the CDC determined there was "insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws reviewed for preventing violence." ^[17]
Mayor Bloomberg has been criticized by Virginia's Attorney General, Robert F. McDonnell, for sending private investigators to conduct "sting" operations of gun shops in the Commonwealth without coordinating these investigations with state or Federal law enforcement agencies, thereby possibly compromising on-going investigations. In reaction to these "sting" operations, the state legislature passed legislation making it a felony to engage in private investigations of gun shops without state or Federal law enforcement officials present. ^[18]

Participating Mayors

The following list is complete as of June, 2007.
Alabama

★ Mayor Samuel L. Jones, Mobile
Arkansas

★ Mayor Dan Coody, Fayetteville

★ Mayor Patrick Hays, North Little Rock
California

★ Mayor Todd Campbell, Burbank

★ Mayor Daniel E. Furtado, Campbell

★ Mayor Cheryl Cox, Chula Vista

★ Mayor Kris Wang, Cupertino

★ Mayor Robert Wasserman, Fremont

★ Mayor Gary Plass, Healdsburg

★ Mayor Beth Krom, Irvine

★ Mayor H. Manuel Ortiz, Irwindale

★ Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles

★ Mayor Rob Schroder, Martinez

★ Mayor Steve Cottrell, Nevada City

★ Mayor Ron Dellums, Oakland

★ Mayor Steven Glazer, Orinda

★ Mayor Pamela Torliatt, Petaluma

★ Mayor David Durant, Pleasant Hill

★ Mayor Jennifer Hosterman, Pleasanton

★ Mayor Thomas D. Long, Rancho Palos Verdes

★ Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, Richmond

★ Mayor Heather Fargo, Sacramento

★ Mayor Patrick J. Morris, San Bernardino

★ Mayor Jerry Sanders, San Diego

★ Mayor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco

★ Mayor Chuck Reed, San Jose

★ Mayor Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana

★ Mayor Marty Blum, Santa Barbara

★ Mayor Joseph D. Serrano, Sr., Santa Fe Springs

★ Mayor Bob Blanchard, Santa Rosa

★ Mayor Paul Miller, Simi Valley

★ Mayor Edward Chavez, Stockton

★ Mayor Otto O. Lee, Sunnyvale

★ Mayor Morris Vance, Vista

★ Mayor Antonio "Tony" Cartegena, Walnut

★ Mayor Christopher Cabaldon, West Sacramento
Colorado

★ Mayor John Hickenlooper, Denver
Connecticut

★ Mayor John Fabrizi, Bridgeport

★ Mayor Eddie Perez, Hartford

★ Mayor John DeStefano, Jr., New Haven

★ Mayor Richard Moccia, Norwalk

★ Mayor Dannel Malloy, Stamford

★ Mayor Scott Slifka, West Hartford
Delaware

★ Mayor Vance A. Funk, III, Newark

★ Mayor James M. Baker, Wilmington
District of Columbia

★ Mayor Adrian Fenty, Washington
Florida

★ Mayor Scott J. Brook, Coral Springs

★ Mayor Joy Cooper, Hallandale Beach

★ Mayor Julio Robaina, Hialeah

★ Mayor Mara Giulianti, Hollywood

★ Mayor Manuel Diaz, Miami

★ Mayor Kevin Burns, North Miami

★ Mayor Frank C. Ortis, Pembroke Pines

★ Mayor Patricia Christensen, Port St. Lucie

★ Mayor John Marks, III, Tallahassee

★ Mayor Beth Talabisco, Tamarac
Georgia

★ Mayor Heidi Davison, Athens-Clarke County

★ Mayor Shirley Franklin, Atlanta

★ Mayor Jack Ellis, Macon

★ Mayor Jere Wood, Roswell
Hawaii

★ Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Honolulu
Illinois

★ Mayor Richard M. Daley, Chicago

★ Mayor Lorraine H. Morton, Evanston

★ Mayor Rita L. Mullins, Palatine

★ Mayor John A. Spring, Quincy

★ Mayor Lawrence Morrissey, Rockford

★ Mayor Richard H. Hyde, Waukegan
Indiana

★ Mayor Graham Richard, Fort Wayne

★ Mayor Stephen Luecke, South Bend
Iowa

★ Mayor Kay Halloran, Cedar Rapids

★ Mayor Edwin Winborn, Davenport

★ Mayor T.M. Franklin Cownie, Des Moines
Kentucky

★ Mayor Elaine Walker, Bowling Green

★ Mayor Butch Callery, Covington

★ Mayor Jerry Abramson, Louisville

★ Mayor Thomas L. Guidugli , Newport
Louisiana

★ Mayor Melvin "Kip" Holden, Baton Rouge

★ Mayor Ray Nagin, New Orleans

★ Mayor Cedric B. Glover, Shreveport
Maine

★ Mayor Nicholas Mavodones, Jr., Portland
Maryland

★ Mayor Ellen Moyer, Annapolis

★ Mayor Sheila Dixon, Baltimore
Massachusetts

★ Mayor Tom Menino '(Co-Chair)', Boston

★ Mayor James E. Harrington, Brockton

★ Mayor Kenneth Reeves, Cambridge

★ Mayor Jim Fiorentini, Haverhill

★ Mayor Michael J. Sullivan, Holyoke

★ Mayor Clare Higgins, Northampton

★ Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Somerville

★ Mayor Charles V. Ryan, Springfield
Michigan

★ Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Detroit
Minnesota

★ Mayor Steve Lampi, Brooklyn Park

★ Mayor Gary F. Van Eyll, Chaska

★ Mayor Herb W. Bergson, Duluth

★ Mayor R.T. Rybak, Minneapolis

★ Mayor Rob Marty, Mounds View

★ Mayor Chris Coleman, St. Paul

★ Mayor Mark Schiffman, Waconia

★ Mayor Andrew G. Humphrey, Wayzata
Mississippi

★ Mayor Johnny DuPree, Hattiesburg

★ Mayor Frank Melton, Jackson

★ Mayor Phillip West, Natchez

★ Mayor Matthew J. Avara, Pascagoula
Missouri

★ Mayor Francis Slay, St. Louis
Montana

★ Mayor Ron Tussing, Billings
Nebraska

★ Mayor Colleen Seng, Lincoln

★ Mayor Mike Fahey, Omaha
New Jersey

★ Mayor Kevin G. Sanders, Asbury Park

★ Mayor Joseph V. Doria, Jr., Bayonne

★ Mayor Jason J. Varano, Berkeley Township

★ Mayor Sophie Heymann, Borough of Closter

★ Mayor James A. Gallos, Borough of Milford

★ Mayor Pasquale Menna, Borough of Red Bank

★ Mayor Emilia M. Siciliano, Borough of Shrewsbury

★ Mayor Barry H. Zagnit, Borough of Spotswood

★ Mayor Betty Simmons, Borough of Victory Gardens

★ Mayor Gwendolyn Faison, Camden

★ Mayor Carol Foster, Corbin City

★ Mayor Chester Riland, Downe Township

★ Mayor Joseph R. Smith, East Newark

★ Mayor Robert L. Bowser, East Orange

★ Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Elizabeth

★ Mayor David Delle Donna, Guttenberg

★ Mayor Beth Ann Haven, Haddon Heights

★ Mayor Glen D. Gilmore, Hamilton

★ Mayor Meryl Frank, Highland Park

★ Mayor Wayne Smith, Irvington

★ Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Jersey City

★ Mayor Brian A. Reid, Lacey Township

★ Mayor Eugene Kulick, Little Falls

★ Mayor Frank W. Minor, Logan Township

★ Mayor Walt Craig, Lower Township

★ Mayor Michael Fressola, Manchester Township

★ Mayor Donald Cresitello, Morristown

★ Mayor David Scapicchio, Mount Olive

★ Mayor James Manning Jr., Neptune Township

★ Mayor Cory Booker, Newark

★ Mayor Peter C. Massa, North Arlington

★ Mayor Randy George, North Haledon

★ Mayor Michael Luther, Parsipanny-Troy Hills

★ Mayor Samuel Rivera, Passaic

★ Mayor Jose Torres, Paterson

★ Mayor Harry L. Wyant, Phillipsburg

★ Mayor Mohamed Khairullah, Prospect Park

★ Mayor Earl Gage, Salem

★ Mayor Douglas Palmer, Trenton

★ Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, West Windsor

★ Mayor John E. McCormac, Woodbridge
New Mexico

★ Mayor David Coss, Santa Fe
New York

★ Mayor Gerald Jennings, Albany

★ Mayor Byron Brown, Buffalo

★ Mayor Ernest Davis, Mount Vernon

★ Mayor Noam Bramson, New Rochelle

★ Mayor Michael Bloomberg '(Co-Chair)', New York

★ Mayor Robert Duffy, Rochester

★ Mayor Matthew Driscoll, Syracuse

★ Mayor Philip Amicone, Yonkers
North Carolina

★ Mayor Terry Bellamy, Asheville

★ Mayor Kevin Foy, Chapel Hill

★ Mayor Bill Bell, Durham

★ Mayor Keith Holliday, Greensboro

★ Mayor Charles Meeker, Raleigh
North Dakota

★ Mayor Dennis Walaker, Fargo
Ohio

★ Mayor Dan Pillow, Addyston

★ Mayor Don Plusquellic, Akron

★ Mayor Joseph Harper, Arlington Heights

★ Mayor Mark Mallory, Cincinnati

★ Mayor Frank Jackson , Cleveland

★ Mayor Danny Stacy , Cleves

★ Mayor Michael Coleman, Columbus

★ Mayor Rhine McLin, Dayton

★ Mayor Theodore Shannon, Fairfax

★ Mayor Jim Lawler , Forest Park

★ Mayor Thomas J. Longo, Garfield Heights

★ Mayor Joseph C. Hubbard, Glendale

★ Mayor Alan Zaffiro, Golf Manor

★ Mayor Daniel Gieringer, Harrison

★ Mayor Deborah Seay , Lincoln Heights

★ Mayor Jim Brown, Lockland

★ Mayor Lydia J. Reid, Mansfield

★ Mayor Michael O. Ciaravino, Maple Heights

★ Mayor Thomas E. O'Grady, North Olmsted

★ Mayor Judith Rawson, Shaker Heights

★ Mayor John Smith, Silverton

★ Mayor Jay Williams, Youngstown

★ Mayor Barry Porter, Wyoming
Oklahoma

★ Mayor Kathy Taylor, Tulsa
Oregon

★ Mayor Robert Drake, Beaverton
Pennsylvania

★ Mayor Ed Pawlowski , Allentown

★ Mayor John Callahan , Bethlehem

★ Mayor Joseph Sinnott, Erie

★ Mayor Rick Gray, Lancaster

★ Mayor John Street, Philadelphia

★ Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Pittsburgh

★ Mayor Tom McMahon, Reading

★ Mayor John S. Brenner, York
Rhode Island

★ Mayor David Cicilline, Providence
South Carolina

★ Mayor Joseph Riley, Charleston
South Dakota

★ Mayor Dave Munson, Sioux Falls
Tennessee

★ Mayor Bill Haslam, Knoxville

★ Mayor A C Wharton, Shelby County
Texas

★ Mayor Will Wynn, Austin

★ Mayor Laura Miller, Dallas

★ Mayor Bill White, Houston

★ Mayor Richard Ward, Hurst
Utah

★ Mayor Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City
Vermont

★ Mayor Bob Kiss, Burlington
Virginia

★ Mayor William Euille, Alexandria

★ Mayor Paul D. Fraim, Norfolk

★ Mayor Annie M. Mickens, Petersburg

★ Mayor James W. Holley III, Portsmouth

★ Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, Richmond
Washington

★ Mayor Peter B. Lewis, Auburn

★ Mayor Greg Nickels, Seattle

★ Mayor Bill Baarsma, Tacoma
Wisconsin

★ Mayor James Schmitt, Green Bay

★ Mayor John M. Antaramian, Kenosha

★ Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Madison

★ Mayor Tom Barrett, Milwaukee

★ Mayor Gary Becker, Racine

★ Mayor Larry Nelson, Waukesha

★ Mayor Theresa M. Estness, Wauwatosa

External Links

★ Mayors Against Illegal Guns

★ Mayor Michael Bloomberg's homepage

★ Office of the Mayor of Boston

References

1. Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Principles Retrieved on June 12, 2007
2. Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members Retrieved on June 12, 2007
3.
4.
5.
6. Full text of current Tiahrt Amendment From ProtectPolice.org, a project of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
7. Knight, Healther (June 19, 2007) "Mayors Fight Gun Measure." ''San Francisco Chronicle''.
8. msnbc.msn.com Retrieved on July 10, 2007
9. N.Y. Triggers Gun Stings Nationwide, The New York Post, May 10, 2007 By: David Seifman http://www.nypost.com/seven/05102007/news/regionalnews/n_y__triggers_gun_stings_nationwide_regionalnews_david_seifman_____city_hall_bureau_chief.htm
10. The New York Times Retrieved on July 17, 2007
11. http://info.grandlodgefop.org/servlet/display/news_article?id=441&XSL=xsl_pages%2fpublic_news_individual.xsl&nocache=13240303
12. http://www.nraila.org/media/PDFs/ssbenevolent.pdf
13. Mayor Withdraws from anti-gun coalition, The Indianapolis Star, June 27, 2007 By: Tania E. Lopez http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070627/LOCAL0101/706270329/1015/LOCAL01
14. Letter to the Editor, Anchorage Daily News, February 4, 2007 by Mayor Mark Begich http://www.adn.com/opinion/letters/story/8614932p-8507468c.html
15. An Idaho Mayor Withdraws From Bloomberg's Gun Group, The New York Sun, January 17, 2007 By: Bradley Hope http://www.nysun.com/article/46799
16. http://sev.prnewswire.com/sports/20070709/NYM15609072007-1.html
17. [1]First Reports Evaluating the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Violence: Firearms Laws
18. Va. Tells NYC to Stop Gun Stings, Washington Post, pg. A01, May 10, 2007 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/09/AR2007050902573.html