By Ed Somers
November 6, 2006

Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street led a broad-based, bipartisan coalition of public and private citizens September 26 from around the country to the state capitol in Harrisburg to lobby the Pennsylvania General Assembly for stronger gun laws and increased funding for violence prevention programs and jobs.

Mayors from throughout Pennsylvania and neighboring states, community leaders, clergy members and citizens from around the Commonwealth joined Street to unite against the increasing wave of gun violence troubling the nation.

Joining Street in Harrisburg were mayors Michael Bloomberg of New York City, Douglas H. Palmer of Trenton, Chris Doherty of Scranton, Ed Pawlowski of Allentown, Rick Gray of Lancaster, John Callahan of Bethlehem, Thomas McMahon of Reading, John Brenner of York, and Mary Wolf of Williamsport.

“Gun violence knows no geographic boundaries, and we are grateful to these mayors for lending their voices today to petition the General Assembly to provide more tools for our police and our communities to keep them safe from the problems of guns and violence,” Street said.

“The nation’s mayors are uniting and fighting together for focused enforcement as well as an end to the revolving door for chronic offenders who use guns,” said Conference of Mayors Vice President Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer. “Now we need our legislatures to step up and join this effort. Speaking for my state’s mayors, we need Pennsylvania to strengthen its gun laws to stop the easy sales and easy trafficking to criminals.”

“The fight against illegal guns cannot be waged from behind state lines,” Bloomberg said. “Nearly 90 percent of the guns used in crimes in New York City come from out-of-state, and many come from Pennsylvania,” he added.

More than 30 buses from locations across Philadelphia took concerned citizens to the State Capitol in Harrisburg for a rally and prayer vigil to coincide with the special day-long legislative session of the General Assembly on gun violence-related legislation.

Specifically, the mayors asked the General Assembly to pass legislation that would:

• require gun owners to maintain guns in a secure lock box and immediately report lost, stolen or missing firearms to the police;

• limit purchase of guns to one gun per month; and

• make possession of any illegal firearm a felony and moves more gun violations to state and federal courts.

In addition to stronger gun control laws, Street and the coalition sought support for additional resources for violence prevention programs. Philadelphia’s Operation Safer Streets is a comprehensive long-term campaign committed to more focused policing, more engaged communities, intensive social and city services; and getting guns off the streets. A key component of that plan is the city’s violence reduction programs, which data shows are helping to reduce violence among the most at-risk youths.