FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 25, 2011

No. 13

MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS ANNOUNCES THAT REP. GABRIELLE

GIFFORDS’ HERO INTERN DANIEL HERNANDEZ SUPPORTS ITS PLAN TO
FIX GUN CHECKS AND WILL VISIT NEW YORK CITY HALL ON
WEDNESDAY

Members of Congress, Kennedy Family Members and Others Join Daniel Hernandez in
Supporting Mayors’ Plan to Fix the National Gun Background Check System

Full Plan Available at www.FixGunChecks.org

Mayors Against Illegal Guns today announced that Daniel Hernandez, the hero
intern who first cared for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot, supports the support
for the mayors’ proposal to fix the national gun background check system. Mr.
Hernandez will visit City Hall in New York and be congratulated by Mayor Bloomberg
for his heroism. The coalition of over 550 mayors published an open letter to President
Obama and Congress about the proposal in today’s Washington Post, on page A16. The
open letter is available here: www.FixGunChecks.org/printad and the full plan is
available at www.FixGunChecks.org.

“On the morning of January 8, the lives of an entire community changed,” said
Daniel Hernandez. “The people of Tucson, Arizona, and the nation were turned upside-
down by a barrage of bullets fired by a dangerous, disturbed man with a gun. From the
moment those of us who were unharmed began helping the victims of the attack,
including Representative Gabrielle Giffords, it has been clear to me that much more must
be done to prevent similar attacks in the future. It is my hope that President Obama and
Congress will work together right away to reform our gun background check system so
that all records of dangerous people are in the system and all gun buyers will have to pass
a thorough background check. And that this be done in a way that does not infringe on
Second Amendment rights, so that responsible citizens may exercise their right to bear
arms.”

“Daniel Hernandez is right, we need to enforce the law Houses of Congress

unanimously passed in the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting to put all the required
records in the national gun background check system,” said coalition co-founder Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg. “Despite the law, all the records are not in the system. The new
Congress should set a goal of getting this job finished within three years. I look forward
to working with the members of Congress and others who have endorsed our approach to
finally fulfill the intent of the 1968 law.”
 “Our coalition’s proposal is simple but would save thousands of lives,” said
coalition co-founder Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “We have to keep guns out of the hands
of dangerous people by fixing our gun check system and assuring that it applies to every
gun sale. But to accomplish that goal we need leadership at every level. I thank Senator
Kerry for his leadership here in Massachusetts and urge President Obama in his speech
on the State of the Union to stand up for the families and victims of gun violence every
day.”

Below are statements of support for the www.FixGunChecks.org plan from:

• Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)

• Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)
• Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY)
• Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO)
• Tom Davis, former Republican Congressman from Virginia’s 11th District
• Harold Ford, former Democratic Congressman from Tennessee’s 9th District and
Chair of the Democratic Leadership Council
• Richard Thornburgh, former Attorney General to Presidents Reagan and Bush

• Michael Mukasey, former Attorney General to President George W. Bush

• Jean Kennedy Smith, former ambassador to Ireland and sister of John F. Kennedy
and Robert F. Kennedy
• Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and
eldest child of Robert F. Kennedy.
• Victoria Reggie Kennedy, widow of United States Senator Ted Kennedy
• Ed Rendell, former Pennsylvania Governor
• Rep. Judy Chu, (D-CA)
• Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
• Rep. James P. Moran (D-VA)
• Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL)
• Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
• Howard Dean, former Vermont Governor and former DNC Chairman
• Rev. Jesse Jackson
• Tom Mauser, father of Columbine shooting victim
• Omar Samaha, brother of Virginia Tech shooting victim
• Yoko Ono
• Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors,
• Jim Kolbe, former Republican Congressman from Arizona’s 8th district, the seat
of Rep. Giffords
• Bruce Babbitt, former Governor of Arizona
• Grant Woods, former Attorney General of Arizona
• Raul Grijalva, Congressman from Arizona’s 7th District
• Terry Goddard, former Attorney General of Arizona
 • Dennis DeConcini, former Democratic US Senator representing Arizona
• Neil Giuliano, former Mayor of Tempe, Arizona

“There are some things we should all be able to agree on - and one of them is that
rights always come with responsibilities, and that the mentally unstable shouldn't be able
to buy guns,” said Senator John Kerry. “Anyone that wants to purchase a gun in this
country should be required to pass a simple background check. However, our patchwork
of gun laws is rife with loopholes and too many dangerous people fall through the
cracks.”

“If the tragedies in Tucson and Virginia Tech have shown us anything,” said New
York Senator Charles Schumer, “it is that there are serious holes in the reporting of
information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and they need to
be addressed immediately. I will work with my colleagues in the Senate to pursue
common sense gun ownership safeguards to protect our children and communities from
those individuals, like the mentally ill and drug addicted, who should not have easy
access to deadly weapons.”

“I commend Mayor Bloomberg for his leadership in working to eliminate horrible

gun violence in our communities,” said New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “I will
continue to work with the Mayor, Police Commissioner Kelly, law enforcement officials
and my Senate colleagues on a number of common sense, reasonable legislative
proposals, including keeping the guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and closing
loopholes to strengthen the NICS database.”

“I appreciate Tom Mauser, Martin Luther King III, and other important
contributors who are working to identify shortcomings in existing federal efforts to keep
firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill,” said Colorado Senator Mark
Udall. “When I served in the House of Representatives, I supported and voted for
improvements to the National Instant Check System, but it still suffers from chronic
underfunding and poor compliance by states and federal agencies. Sadly, Colorado
knows firsthand how gun crime can impact our communities. I am constantly mindful of
the tragedy at Columbine – as well as at Virginia Tech – where so many innocent people
lost their lives as a result of a senseless act of violence. I look forward to working with
my colleagues in Congress and the administration to better enforce existing laws and
improve our ability to protect Americans from the kind of tragedy we witnessed in
Tucson.”

“For seven terms in the United States House of Representatives, I fought for
common sense laws that help protect the American people and respect our Second
Amendment rights,” said Tom Davis, former Republican Congressman from Virginia’s
11th District. “In 2007, the massacre at Virginia Tech laid bare serious flaws in our
nation’s gun laws, and I helped lead the charge in Congress to fix them by co-sponsoring
the NICS Improvement Act. Now, nearly four years later, our country is facing yet
another tragedy caused by a gun in the hands of someone federal law prohibits from
possessing one. There is clearly much more we must do, and I applaud Mayors Against
Illegal Guns for their sensible and comprehensive proposal for reforming our gun
background checks.”

“I’ve always respected and supported the Second Amendment rights of

responsible, law-abiding Americans to own guns,” said Harold Ford, chairman of the
Democratic Leadership Council and former Congressman from Tennessee’s 9th District.
“I also firmly believe that there are too many murders, too many shootings, and too many
guns in the hands of criminals, the mentally ill, and drug abusers. Since the murders of
Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, it’s been the law that felons, mentally ill, and
drug abusers can’t possess guns – but our background check system too often fails. I
support the efforts of the mayors’ to make the gun background check database complete
and make the checks comprehensive.”

“I would be pleased to join in any effort to ensure an effective background check

system so that every gun purchaser can be made subject to effective scrutiny,” said
Richard Thornburgh, former United States Attorney General. “This was one of the
recommendations of the three-day nationwide law enforcement summit held in
Washington, DC in the spring of 1991, nearly twenty years ago, while I served as
Attorney General of the United States in the administration of President George H. W.
Bush. It is discouraging in the extreme that this need has not been met since. Common
sense solutions such as those proposed by the mayors deserve widespread support.”

“We’ve learned from recent shootings that it is vital that the federal gun
background check system have accurate and complete information on people prohibited
from possessing firearms,” said former Attorney General Michael Mukasey. “President
Bush supported and Congress passed a piece of the necessary reform in 2007 after
Virginia Tech, and it has had a significant impact by more than tripling the number of
mental health records in the system. But it is clear, particularly after Tucson, that it was
just one step on a longer path toward the effective and comprehensive background check
system we need. I applaud America's mayors for their efforts to build a better system.”

“Without exception, we line up at airports, often at tremendous inconvenience,

willingly taking off our shoes, sweaters, and coats, and subjecting our belongings to
search,” said Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith. “We accept this in the spirit of
cooperation and understanding that it is for our own protection. The same principle can
and should be applied to background checks, which do not impose on our rights as
individuals but merely add to our protection as U.S. citizens.”

“President Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy, my uncle and my father,

dedicated their lives to serving their country,” said Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former
Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and eldest child of Robert F. Kennedy. "But because of
assassins armed with guns, they both made the ultimate sacrifice, and their lives of
service were cut short. The 34 Americans whose lives are cut short by a gun each day
may not be presidents or senators, but each life is a future cut short, a life of
accomplishments left undone, and a family torn apart. We owe a duty to each victim to
make their life, and their sacrifice, a part of the national movement to fix our gun
background check system so it is thorough, complete and comprehensive."

“I grieve with the families of all the victims of the senseless shooting in Tucson,”
said Victoria Reggie Kennedy, widow of United States Senator Ted Kennedy. “I also
mourn for the 34 Americans who are killed every day with guns. Surely we can come
together, as patriotic and law-abiding citizens, to assure that firearms do not fall into the
hands of criminals, children and those with serious mental illness. This is not about
responsible, law-abiding Americans. This is about common-sense laws to prevent those
who endanger our safety, our families and our freedoms from obtaining firearms.”

“Gun politics can be a difficult and contentious issue in Washington, but if there
has ever been a time to move past the tired old debates and work on a common sense
solution, it’s now,” said former Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell. “In the wake of
the attack in Tucson, and after a string of mayhem from Columbine to Virginia Tech to
Fort Hood, I think we can all agree that something must be done. I applaud the mayors’
approach to fix the system we already have by getting all the right records in the
database, combined with requiring background checks for all sales. This gives me hope
that President Obama and Congress can work together quickly to accomplish some real,
effective reform.”

“Over 30,000 people in this country die every year from gun related injuries and
thousands more are killed by guns originally purchased in the United States,” said
Congresswoman Judy Chu of California’s 32nd District. “In the wake of the horrible
incident in Tucson, it is finally time for us to have a frank and civil discussion about the
need for reasonable restrictions on gun ownership in this country. I applaud the Mayors
Against Illegal Guns for their bold, common sense approach to fighting gun violence and
I look forward to supporting legislation in Congress that will make these reforms a
reality.”

“Reducing gun violence in America will require a united effort on multiple fronts,
and Michael Bloomberg and the Mayors Against Illegal Guns understand that,” said
Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy of New York’s 4th District. “Having written the law
authorizing more spending for our national background check system, working to close
the gun show loophole and introducing the bill to ban high-capacity magazines, I’m
excited that the Mayors Against Illegal Guns are committed to advancing these three
measures. I commend Mayor Bloomberg and his colleagues for their courage and
leadership during this time that we so desperately need them.”

“Background checks are a proven tool in keeping guns out of the hands of those
who would do harm,” said Congressman Jim Moran of Virginia’s 8th District. “Since
1994, more than 1.9 million prohibited persons have been blocked from purchasing a
deadly weapon. The system, however, is undermined by incomplete information and
loopholes that exclude many gun purchases from background check requirements. By
adding the names of all individuals prohibited from buying guns to the national database
and closing loopholes that allow felons and the mentally ill to escape scrutiny, we can
balance the rights of gun-owners while improving the safety of all Americans.”

“Over the years Congress has enacted laws to keep guns out of the hands of
violent criminals and terrorists,” said Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois’ 5th District,
“but we haven’t followed through with the funding to enforce these laws, the data needed
to make background checks effective, or the will to close glaring loopholes. Every
shooting death is a tragedy, whether it’s a nine year old in Tucson or a nine year old in
Chicago. There are deadly consequences to our continued failure to act.”

“The tragedy in Tucson has reinforced the idea that the American people
fundamentally believe in reasonable gun control,” said Congressman Anthony Weiner
from New York’s 9th District. “People who are mentally unbalanced or unstable shouldn’t
have access to guns. This doesn’t violate the Constitution – It’s commonsense. I applaud
Mayor Bloomberg for taking the lead on this important issue.”

“As Governor of Vermont, I received an A-rating from the NRA and I strongly
support the right of law-abiding Americans to own a gun. I also believe with equal
strength that felons, drug abusers, and the mentally ill have no right to guns,” said
Howard Dean, Chairman Emeritus of the Democratic National Committee and former
Governor of Vermont. “In fact, that’s been the law in our country for 43 years since the
assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy. What we need now is a
background check system that works to enforce the law – one that ensures that every
record is in the system that belongs there and that every gun buyer goes through a
background check. I stand with America’s mayors in their effort to make the system
work.”

“I thank Mayor Bloomberg for his leadership on an issue that tears at the fabric of
America,” said civil rights activist and former presidential candidate Reverend Jesse
Jackson. “For decades, I have seen first-hand that gun violence is our greatest domestic
threat. Since the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert
Kennedy in 1968, more than 400,000 Americans have been killed with guns – it is a
national massacre, and a national shame. We need real reform of our federal gun laws,
and today’s proposal will do just that. The background check system must have all the
records on individuals like the killer in Tucson, so it can reliably decide who should be
denied a gun. And loopholes must be closed to make sure every gun buyer has to pass a
check, to prevent dangerous people from getting a gun that they will turn into a murder
weapon. Our decades-long struggle to build a peaceful America in the face of violence
and bloodshed requires unity and a sense of common purpose, and I call on President
Obama and Congress to save lives and do what’s right by passing legislation to get this
done."

“Two weeks before my son Daniel was killed along with 12 others in the
Columbine massacre, he asked me about something he learned from his debate team,”
said Tom Mauser. “He said ‘Dad, did you know there are loopholes in the Brady Bill?’
Since Daniel was killed, I have worked to close loopholes in our background check law
like the gap that helped Daniel’s killers get their guns. That work led to an invitation
from President Clinton to attend the State of the Union address in January, 2000. And
after 11 more years of senseless and preventable gun violence, I hope President Obama
will rise to the occasion in tomorrow’s State of the Union, join this cause and lead the
charge to finally fix gun background checks.”

“My sister Reema was shot and killed at Virginia Tech by someone who was able
to get a gun because of gaps in the gun background check system,” said Omar Samaha.
“Nearly fours years later, Congress has done very little to fix the system in a
comprehensive way. Today’s proposal addresses the findings of the Virginia Tech
Review Panel by fixing the cracks in the background check system, and closing once and
for all the loopholes that give dangerous people a way around background checks. This is
in line with what the Virginia Tech families and survivors have long been pushing for,
and I support it wholeheartedly.”

“Many lives will be saved by Mayor Bloomberg's sensible proposal to improve

background checks for the purchase of guns,” said artist, musician, and peace activist
Yoko Ono. “I fully support this wise proposal.”

“Ensuring that all names of people prohibited from buying a gun are included in the
system and subjecting every gun sale to a background check make common sense and could
help to reduce gun violence in this country,” said Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director
of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which represents more than 1,100 mayors of America’s
largest cities. “The U.S. Conference of Mayors has had strong policy calling for
strengthening the background check system and eliminating loopholes within it for many
years. That policy was reinforced just last week during our Winter Meeting in Washington
through a resolution that was adopted which calls on Congress to fully fund the 2007 NICS
Improvement Act; make modifications needed to ensure that all records of felons, mentally
ill, and drug abusers actually are in the system; and close loopholes in the law, including
‘Gun Show Loophole,’ to ensure that criminals, the mentally ill, and drug abusers do not slip
through cracks in the background check system.”

“When I retired from Congress in 2006 after serving eleven terms representing the
8th Congressional District of Arizona, I was succeeded in office by Congresswoman
Gabby Giffords,” said Republican former Congressman Jim Kolbe. “Like me, Gabby has
always been a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights and is herself a gun owner.
But after years of conducting literally hundreds of public events with voters in my
district, I was, like all Americans, stunned and horrified by the image of a deranged man
bringing chaos and death to Gabby's meeting with her constituents. It was an assault on
the very essence of our democracy. This person should never have had that gun in the
first place. I support the mayors' proposal to prevent others like him from getting guns by
making sure that the key records which would have prohibited such a purchase are in the
system, and that every gun buyer must pass a complete and accurate check before making
a gun purchase.”

“Our response to the recent shootings in Arizona should include an honest

assessment of our gun laws,” said Bruce Babbitt, former Governor of Arizona and United
States Secretary of the Interior. “At the very least, we should be able to agree to closing
gaps in the background check system so that all relevant information is submitted and
each buyer can be properly checked. It's the responsible thing to do, and that's why I
support the mayors' efforts.”

“The recent attack on a crowd of innocent Arizonans in Tucson, including my

friend, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was an attack on all of Arizona, and an attack on our
democracy,” said former Republican Attorney General of Arizona Grant Woods. “A
responsible and civilized society requires enforcing the law and protecting the peace. For
eight years, that was my job as Arizona's Attorney General. And while I support the
Second Amendment rights of responsible, law-abiding Americans, I also support tough,
common sense laws to keep guns out of the hands of felons, drug abusers, the mentally ill
and other dangerous people -- laws that we've had on the books in our country for 43
years. I call on Congress to reform our background check system so it includes all the
records it needs to be accurate, and so that it applies to all gun sales."

“Since the shooting in Tucson on January 8th,” said Congressman Raul Grijalva of
Arizona’s 7th District. “We have all been focused on the recovery of my dear friend and
colleague, Gabrielle Giffords, and the many other victims and their families. We will
continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers, but it is also important to focus on
preventing future gun-related tragedies. Gabby and I share representation of Tucson, and
this violent shooting has hit our community hard. We are a resilient community, and
we’ll pull through, but we need to know that something good will come out of this
terrible event. I believe the common sense proposals by the bipartisan Mayors Against
Illegal Guns will go a long way toward making all our communities safer. It is time to
ensure that all the records of prohibited purchasers are in the system and that those
seeking to purchase guns go through a background check. I don’t want other
communities to go through what we’ve had to face in Tucson.”

“The January 8 attack on our friends and fellow citizens in Tucson will leave deep
scars,” said Terry Goddard, former Attorney General of Arizona. “The tragedy raises
disturbing questions about public access to elected officials in our democratic system. At
the very least, it requires us to redouble efforts to prevent similar attacks. We must at
long last carry out what this country began after the assassination of President Kennedy,
the rigorous compilation of prohibited possessor data, access to that data prior to
authorizing a gun purchase and the closing loopholes which allow prohibited possessors
to go around the background check requirement.”

“Just as the tragic shootings in my home state of Arizona have impacted

Americans all across the nation, this incident has affected me deeply,” said former
Arizona Senator Dennis DeConcini. “Thirteen people were injured, including
Representative Gabby Giffords, and six people are no longer with us because a dangerous
person who should have been blocked from buying a gun was able to do so and able to
equip it with a large capacity ammunition clip. Many of these victims are people I have
known for years. I worked with the Congresswoman over many years and know how
dedicated she has been to our State and Nation. Judge John Roll was hired by my office
when I was Pima County Attorney. He was truly an outstanding Jurist, dedicated to his
family and the community. These losses and injuries did not have to happen and could
have been prevented if we had reasonable firearm protection laws in place. The proposal
of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the bi-partisan Mayors Against Illegal Guns to require
background checks on all gun purchasers and improve the background check system
makes common sense and is urgently needed. This proposal will not impact law abiding
Americans ability to purchase firearms, but is rightly directed where it should be – at
criminals and others who present a danger to society.”

“The horrific attack on my fellow Arizonans, including my friend Rep. Gabby

Giffords, was an attack on our democracy,” said Neil Giuliano, former Mayor of Tempe,
Arizona. “It was also an indictment of a system that lets dangerous people slip through
cracks in our laws. It is not just possible to support the constitutional right of Americans
to own guns while ensuring that they don't fall into the wrong hands; it's essential. As a
former mayor, I strongly support the effort of Mayors Against Illegal Guns to ensure that
all necessary records are in the federal instant background check system, and to guarantee
that every person who buys a gun must first pass that check."

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Contact: Mayor Bloomberg’s Press Office (212) 788-2958

Mayor Menino’s Press Office (617) 635-4461