Enough is Enough, Congress Must Act Now

Adopted at the 90th Annual Meeting in 2022

  • WHEREAS, on May 14, 2022, 10 people were killed and three others wounded in a Buffalo, New York supermarket in which a heavily armed gunman wearing tactical gear while live streaming the event and the FBI is investigating it as a hate crime racially motivated by violent extremism; and

    WHEREAS, just 10 days later on May 24, 2022, 19 children and two teachers were killed and at least 17 others were injured in the shooting at a Uvalde, Texas elementary school by a heavily armed gunman wearing tactical gear; and

    WHEREAS, just eight days after that on June 1,2022, four people were killed and multiple people were Injured by a gunman armed with a semiautomatic rifle and a semiautomatic pistol in a medical building on the campus of St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and

    WHEREAS, while mass shootings garner more public attention, the Centers for Disease Control report that every day in our country more than 110 Americans are killed with guns and more than 200 are shot and wounded, and that 40 percent of these deaths are homicides, many of which occur on the streets of our cities, and 60 percent are suicides; and

    WHEREAS, since 1968 The United States Conference of Mayors has formally adopted and aggressively promoted common-sense policies to reduce gun violence, all consistent with its support for the Second Amendment to the Constitution, and those policies include:

    Strengthening the Regulation of Gun Sales and Dealers, including:
    • Requiring universal background checks for all gun sales and closing other loopholes in the background check system;
    • Limiting the number of guns a person may purchase in a single transaction or in a month or other specified period of time;
    • Banning replica handguns;
    • Increasing inspections of licensed gun dealers; and
    • Targeting and holding responsible gun dealers who break the law by knowingly selling guns to straw purchasers; and
    • Banning the manufacture, sale, and possession of all 3D printed "ghost guns" and parts;
    Supporting Local Efforts to Reduce and Combat Gun Crimes, including:
    • Opposing concealed carry reciprocity policies and legislation that would circumvent city policies established to protect residents;
    Providing local governments and law enforcement officials access to ATF gun trace data;

    Opposing "Stand Your Ground" or "Shoot First" laws and urging state legislatures that have adopted such laws to repeal them;

    Supporting extreme risk protection ("red flag") order laws and urging both states and the federal government to enact such laws; and

    Encouraging mayors to take executive actions to combat gun violence and illegal use and trafficking of guns;

    Protecting Young People, including:
    • Opposing proposals to allow teachers and other non-law enforcement, non-security personnel to carry firearms in K-12 schools;
    • Raising the youth handgun ban from 18 to 21 years of age;
    • Banning juvenile possession of semiautomatic assault rifles; and
    • Holding gun owners criminally liable when children gain access to improperly stored guns;
    Protecting Domestic Violence Victims, including:
    • Prohibiting persons convicted of domestic violence crimes or subject to final domestic violence restraining orders from acquiring or possessing firearms; and
    • Requiring prohibited domestic abusers to turn in firearms they already own,
    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that in the aftermath of the most recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Buffalo, and Tulsa, the nation's mayors stand united across party lines to say enough is enough and The United States Conference of Mayors calls on the Senate to quickly pass legislation to address gun violence, starting with common sense solutions like requiring background checks on all gun sales, passing a strong red flag law, and raising the age to possess or purchase a handgun or assault weapon from 18 to 21.
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