Mayors Continue National Dialogue on Gun Safety

By Liz Kresse

During a well-attended Wednesday session entitled “Gun Safety in America” a panel of four Mayors–joined by Department of Treasury Under Secretary for Enforcement James Johnson and Conference Executive Director J. Thomas Cochran–discussed the disastrous effects of handgun violence locally and nationally, and offered various solutions to the problem.

Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, Co-Chair of the Gun Violence Task Force, opened the session–which was covered by C-SPAN–and framed the ensuing discussion by citing statistics indicating that gun violence is ten times higher in the United States than in other developed countries. Several mayors then provided important context for the discussion by describing how handgun violence has impacted their local communities. The rise in handgun violence in recent years has led to alarmingly high rates of homicide, particularly among youth. Declaring “We’ve been stacking the bodies up one at a time,” Gary Mayor Scott King said that in recent years Gary has vied for first place among cities with the highest per capita incidence of homicides, and that three-fourths of these are linked to handguns. “The issue is handguns, not hunting rifles,” said Mayor King. Miami-Dade County Mayor Alexander Penelas spoke about the sad loss last year of 28 young people in Miami-Dade due to gunfire. Although this figure represents a significant decrease over previous years, he emphasized that it is still an unacceptable loss of life. And Conference President Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb alluded to the terrible events at Columbine High School.

The most poignant moments of the session occurred when Mayors King and Webb described their personal experiences with handgun violence. Although attending funerals of constituents who have died untimely deaths due to gun violence has become almost routine for many mayors, Mayors King and Webb have had to do so for close relatives. Mayor King recently lost a teenage nephew to handgun violence, and Mayor Webb a relative-in-law who was shot in the mayor’s presence in a Fourth of July incident in which a neighbor fired a handgun into the air. On its way down, the bullet struck the mayor’s relative.

A key theme expressed by panelists was that “creating safer communities requires a comprehensive approach,” as stated by Mayor Penelas, involving local and federal gun violence reduction initiatives, changes in local and state laws pertaining to gun safety, and ongoing dialogue with the gun manufacturing industry. At the local level, for example, the formation of a strike force tasked with conducting a “full frontal assault” on gang and street violence in Gary has led to a 45% drop in homicides. Several speakers pointed out, however, that the efforts of mayors to reduce gun violence have been stymied by state legislatures, which are often unwilling to pass laws imposing restrictions on gun owners and manufacturers. As a result, more mayors have addressed the problem by suing gun manufacturers and local gun dealers to compel changes in gun manufacture and distribution. Echoing a common theme, Mayor Penelas urged gun manufacturers to “come forward and work with us,” stressing that he and other mayors are seeking to partner with the gun industry, rather than to “bankrupt” it in order to develop common solutions to gun violence.

Complementing the local perspectives provided by mayors, Under Secretary Johnson reviewed federal efforts to address gun violence and provided a preview of a comprehensive strategy presented by President Clinton the following day during his State of the Union address. Some of the components of the strategy include funding for over 1,000 state and local prosecutors to prosecute gun-related crimes, crime-gun tracing, and research into “smart gun” technologies to produce safer guns. He also outlined several legislative provisions currently awaiting action in Congress, including one requiring Brady checks at gun shows.

Johnson was followed by Cochran who reaffirmed the Conference’s commitment to gun safety. Cochran explained that, on the issue of gun safety, there are four types of mayors: those who have taken the route of suing gun manufacturers; those who are involved in lobbying for legislative reform of laws pertaining to gun safety; those who stress safety and education as the key issue; and those who focus on the issue of mental health as it relates to gun safety. He added that while the Conference has no position on city gun law suits and has not sued the gun industry, the issue of gun safety legislation is a top priority. The Conference’s approach to this vitally important issue, he said, is to stress two themes: safety and keeping guns away from children and young people.