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TO NATIONAL, AND STATE EDITORS:
New Gun Violence Prevention Group 'Everytown for Gun Safety' Unites
Mayors, Moms And Millions Of Americans On New Paths To Victory: State
Capitols, Corporate Responsibility, Voter Activation
NEW YORK, April 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Almost a year
after a minority of the U.S. Senate blocked legislation to require
comprehensive gun background checks despite near-unanimous public
support, a new organization launching today will unite millions of
Americans who will work together to end gun violence and counter the
Washington gun lobby: Everytown for Gun Safety. At its center, the
organization will house Mayors Against Illegal Guns, founded by former
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and former Boston Mayor Tom
Menino, and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a grassroots
movement of moms that was founded the day after Newtown. Everytown
will ask Americans to join the fight to reduce the gun violence that
kills 86 Americans every day and affects every town - big cities and
small towns alike. This means continuing to press for change in
Washington and moving beyond Congress to bring the fight for
common-sense gun policies to state capitols, corporate boards, and
state and federal elections - fields of play formerly occupied almost
solely by the gun lobby. Supporters of Everytown will back candidates
and legislation that will save lives, donate to the group's efforts
and take action to raise awareness for important issues like guns in
schools, domestic violence, child access to guns, suicide and the
other ways that gun violence affects all Americans.
Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced in a New York Times
article published today that he plans to spend at least $50 million
this year to reduce gun violence through Everytown's educational and
advocacy efforts and through personal expenditures.
The organization also announced today the formation of Everytown's
advisory board - a distinguished and diverse group of leaders and gun
violence survivors: Art Acevedo, Tom Barrett, Stephen Barton, Michael
Bloomberg, David Boren, Eli Broad, Warren Buffett, Gloria Chavez,
David Chipman, Michael Coleman, Carlos Gimenez, Roxanna Green, Nick
Hanauer, Geoffrey Henry, Danny Jones, Ken Lerer, John Mack, Thomas
Menino, Marc Morial, Mike Mullen, Michael Nutter, Annise Parker,
Cleopatra Pendleton, Nathaniel Pendleton, Tom Ridge, Gilles Rousseau,
Christy Salters Martin and Shannon Watts.
"This is the beginning of a major new campaign to reduce the gun
violence that plagues communities across the country," said Michael R.
Bloomberg, chair of Everytown for Gun Safety. "There is no question
that more needs to be done to tackle this deadly problem, and that's
why more than 1.5 million Americans, nearly 1000 mayors and moms in
all 50 states have already come together to fight for common-sense
reform that will respect rights and save lives. This new organization
will bring more people into the fight against gun violence, which
affects every town in America."
"Moms need to know that when they drop their kids off at school,
they're learning math and science, not how to duck and cover from
gunfire," said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action.
"Everytown for Gun Safety will harness the grassroots power of Moms
and the many other Americans who want to protect their families and
communities from gun violence."
The group draws its name from the grim math of gun violence in
America: 86 Americans are killed with guns every day. "This isn't
just an urban problem, or a mass shooting problem. It can, and it
does, happen in every town," said John Feinblatt, president of
Everytown for Gun Safety. "And it will take every mayor, every mom,
and every one of us to persuade our policymakers that we have to do
more to protect our kids and our communities."
Watts and Feinblatt will host a media conference call today to discuss
the launch of Everytown at Noon EDT, please RSVP to
press@everytown.org
Moms, mayors, gun violence survivors, law enforcement officials, gun
owners, faith leaders and everyday Americans will also gather at
events across the country today to kick off Everytown. The events
will be held in Tucson, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; St. Petersburg,
Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Las Vegas, Nevada; Concord, New Hampshire;
Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania; Austin, Texas and Seattle, Washington.
At the events, Everytown will launch the 'Gun Sense Voter' campaign
that, for the first time, will mobilize one million voters to support
leaders and laws that promote gun safety. Everytown for Gun Safety
Action Fund, the group's advocacy arm, will also issue candidate
questionnaires and announce candidate scorecards to guide its
supporters and the public in state and federal elections in November.
The Action Fund will also form a separate, supporter-funded political
action committee.
Everytown aims to grow its ranks to 2.5 million supporters this year,
by addressing the ways that gun violence touches Americans, including
child access to guns, domestic violence, guns on campus and suicide.
Today, Everytown's charitable affiliate, the Everytown for Gun Safety
Support Fund, released the first video in a series called "Scenes from
Everytown: Stop the Violence." The first video illustrating the
dangers of child gun access can be viewed here.
Everytown will continue to press for change in Washington, including
comprehensive background checks and enhanced protections for the
victims of domestic violence. At the same time, Everytown will pivot
to mobilize voters in state electoral and legislative campaigns, along
with a ballot initiative to require universal background checks in
Washington State. The group will post robust field staff in more than
a dozen states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana,
Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
Since announcing their merger in December, Mayors Against Illegal Guns
and Moms Demand Action have achieved a number of shared goals that
will keep communities safer. In March, Facebook announced that the
company and its popular photo-sharing subsidiary Instagram would take
significant steps to block potentially illegal firearm sales through
their platforms, thanks to a month-long campaign that quickly drew
more than 230,000 supporters. In just the last month, the two groups
helped pass vital legislation in Washington State that will keep guns
out of the hands of domestic abusers. And in Travis County, Texas,
Mayors and Moms worked together with local political leaders to
effectively close the gun show loophole when Travis County
commissioners refused to lease county property to gun show organizers
unless they agreed to run background checks on their purchasers.
In the year since a minority of Senators blocked the Manchin-Toomey
amendment, the movement for common-sense gun laws has grown
significantly. Lawmakers passed critical laws in California,
Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, and New York in 2013, and
national polls continue to show an overwhelming majority of Americans
support closing the loopholes in our background check system that
allow criminals to buy guns online and at gun shows. In Colorado
alone, their new comprehensive background check requirement has
stopped more than 160 gun sales to prohibited purchasers. Everytown -
and its more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters - will move the
discussion forward and fight for policies proven to save lives.
About Everytown for Gun Safety Everytown for Gun Safety is a movement
of Americans fighting for common-sense policies that will reduce gun
violence and save lives. Everytown is the largest gun violence
prevention organization in the country with more than 1.5 million
supporters including moms, mayors, survivors, and everyday Americans
who are fighting for reforms that respect the Second Amendment and
protect people. At the core of Everytown are Mayors Against Illegal
Guns, founded in 2006 by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
and former Boston Mayor Tom Menino, and Moms Demand Action for Gun
Sense in America, a grassroots movement of American mothers founded on
the day after Newtown. Learn more at www.everytown.org and follow us
@Everytown.
CONTACT: Erika Soto Lamb: erika@everytown.org or 646-580-5281 Stacey
Radnor: sradnor@everytown.org or 202-870-6668
SOURCE Everytown for Gun Safety
-0- 04/16/2014
/Web Site: http://www.everytown.org
CO: Everytown for Gun Safety
ST: New York
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