[Peace-discuss] Fw: Getting illegal guns off the streets [from Color of Change]

Thu Apr 22 12:00:20 CDT 2010

--- On Wed, 4/21/10, Mayor Cory Booker, for ColorOfChange.org <no-reply at colorofchange.org> wrote:
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A chance to get illegal guns off our streets

Join Mayor Booker and call on Congress to close the Gun Show Loophole:

Dear Jenifer,

The message below is from Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey.  We are supporting his effort and wanted to invite you to participate in a national campaign he's helping lead against gun violence.  We think it's a great campaign and we hope you'll consider taking action.

James Rucker

Executive Director, ColorOfChange.org

Dear Jenifer, 

My name is Cory Booker.  I'm the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, and a few weeks ago my city reached an amazing milestone.  This March was the first month in 44 years without a single murder.1  It's an accomplishment for which we are incredibly proud, and one of the ways we got there was by being smart about guns. 

Right now, there is a gap in our nation’s laws.  It's called the Gun Show Loophole, and it enables criminals, the mentally ill, and other legally prohibited persons to purchase firearms without a background check.  According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, 30% of illegally trafficked guns are connected to gun shows.2  

Even though many gun shows are organized in more rural states, the impact of illegal guns obtained through the Gun Show Loophole is overwhelmingly felt in America’s cities and minority communities.  That’s why I’m partnering  with ColorOfChange to ask for your help in closing the Gun Show Loophole.

Please join me in telling Congress to step up and close the Gun Show Loophole. It will protect all of our communities, and it takes just a moment:

http://www.CloseTheLoophole.org/ColorOfChange

This week also marks the 11th anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School, where twelve students and a teacher were murdered.3 

The killers got their guns because of the Gun Show Loophole, and politicians immediately swore they would take action to close it. 

But eleven years later, nothing has changed.  The loophole is still open and more than 12,000 Americans are victims of gun murder every year.4  Minority communities often feel the brunt of this violence -- African-American men, for example, are 9 times more likely than white men to be murdered with guns.5

I'm a proud member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns -- a coalition of more than 500 mayors who believe in common-sense gun laws.  We are doing what we can to reduce the number of illegal guns on the streets of our communities.

Just as it's a priority for us, closing the Gun Show Loophole should be a top priority for our representatives in Congress, and they need to hear your voice. 

Please add your name to the petition and help protect innocent people from gun violence:

http://www.CloseTheLoophole.org/ColorOfChange

To win this fight, you and I need to speak out and make a call for action that is long overdue. 

Thank you for getting involved in this crucial issue for our community, 

Cory Booker

Mayor of Newark

Member, Mayors Against Illegal Guns

April 21, 2010

P.S. -- It’s going to take all of us standing together to close the Gun Show Loophole.  Please forward this email to your friends, family, and colleagues and ask them to stand with you today by signing the petition at CloseTheLoophole.org.

References

1. “April 1 - Past Four Years Progress in Public Safety,” Press Release from Mayor Booker, 04-01-2010

http://act.colorofchange.org/go/201?akid=1425.394109.W42WWc&t=5.

2. “Following the Gun: Enforcing Federal Laws Against Firearms Traffickers” (page 13, figure 3), Dept. of the Treasury / Dept. of Alcohol, Tobbaco, and Firearms, June 2000

http://act.colorofchange.org/go/202?akid=1425.394109.W42WWc&t=6. 

3. Columbine, Dave Cullen, 2009.

4. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.  Data for 2006 available here: 
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/203?akid=1425.394109.W42WWc&t=8

5. Private Guns Public Health (page 125, table 6.4), David Hemenway, 2004.
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