FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 11, 2011

No. 1

MAYOR BLOOMBERG JOINS MAYORS FROM AROUND THE REGION

TO OUTLINE COMMON-SENSE STEPS TO HELP PREVENT
ANOTHER SHOOTING TRAGEDY

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Presents Plan In Wake of Tucson Tragedy

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Co-chair Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Mayors and
officials from across New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania today outlined steps to help
prevent another shooting tragedy like the one that occurred in Tucson, Arizona last weekend.
The common-sense steps would go a long way toward helping keep guns out of the hand of
criminals, the mentally ill and other dangerous persons. Mayor Bloomberg was joined in the
Blue Room of New York City’s City Hall by Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee
Congressman Peter King (R-NY), Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, New York City
Sheriff Edgar Domenech, Mayor Jeffrey Jones of Paterson, New York; Mayor Stephanie Miner
of Syracuse, New York; Mayor Patricia McDonald of Malverne, New York; Mayor Clinton
Young of Mount Vernon; Mayor J. Christian Bollwage of Elizabeth, New Jersey; Mayor Robert
L. Bowser of East Orange, New Jersey; Jerramiah Healy of Jersey City, New Jersey; Mayor
Antonia Ricigliano of Edison, New Jersey; Mayor Dawn Zimmer of Hoboken, New Jersey;
Mayor Kim Bracey of York, Pennsylvania; NYPD Officer Steven McDonald, who was shot in
the line of duty in 1986 and left paralyzed from the neck down, Malverne Police Chief John
Aresta, Hempstead Police Chief Joseph Wing, Immediate Past President of the New York State
Association of Chiefs of Police William Kilfoil, and Tatiana Timoshenko, the mother of NYPD
Officer Russel Timoshenko, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2007.

“Just as we saw after Virginia Tech, the Arizona tragedy has once again exposed fatal
cracks in our background check system,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The law says that drug
abusers can't buy guns, but even though Jared Loughner was rejected by the military for drug use
and arrested on drug charges, he was able to pass a background check and buy a gun. It should
be clear to everyone that the system is broken and it is time for our leaders in Washington to step
up and fix it.”

“The members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the millions of American’s
we represent want to protect our communities,” said Mayors Against Illegal Guns Co-chair and
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “This bi-partisan coalition is determined to help fix a system
that is broken while respecting the 2nd Amendment. Let’s put aside the tired rhetoric of the past
and take action to prevent further tragedies from occurring.”

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 “It is imperative that we do all that we can to give law enforcement the tools they need to
ensure the safety of New Yorkers and prevent an attack before it happens,” said Congressman
King. “That is why, as Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee and Co-Chair of the
Congressional Task Force on Illegal Guns, I will be introducing legislation that would make it
illegal to knowingly carry a gun within a 1,000 feet of certain high-profile government officials.”

“The shocking attack in Arizona, like the one that wounded Steven McDonald so
severely so many years ago, boils down to a familiar problem: a handgun in the wrong hands,”
said Police Commissioner Kelly. “Later this week the NYPD will report on our examination of
over 200 active shooter incidents across the country with recommendations on how to mitigate
them. But it’s not possible to prepare for every eventuality. That’s why it’s important for
Congress to do what Mayor Bloomberg has argued for years; and that’s enact national laws to
make it harder for people like the shooter in Arizona to get guns in the first place.”

“The tragedy that took place in Tucson on Saturday is yet another wake-up call that
something must be done to keep guns out of violent hands,” said Sheriff Domenech. “Law
enforcement officials around the nation are hamstrung in too may ways by lax or under-enforced
gun laws. It is time to do something about them.”

“The tragedy in Tucson, Arizona is a clear reminder of why our nation must reform its
gun laws to prevent drug abusers and dangerous people from purchasing guns,” said Elizabeth
Mayor Chris Bollwage. “We must do everything in our power as elected leaders to give law
enforcement the tools and the resources they need to prevent such senseless tragedies.”

“The tragedy in Tucson has reminded America just how vulnerable it is to senseless acts
of gun violence. As a country, we have come together to offer our prayers and condolences to the
victims and their families,” said Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Minor. “During this difficult time,
Americans are asking their elected officials to help usher in a more civil and compassionate
political tone. We must do that. We must also take a serious look at how and why gun violence
continues to inflict pain in our country. Too many lives are destroyed, snuffed out too early
because of guns.”

“It should have been obvious that this was someone who had serious mental issues and a
criminal past, yet was somehow able to get his hands on a lethal weapon, causing the tragedy
of 20 people being shot, six fatally,” said Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy. “Now,
a talented, hardworking congresswoman – who is also a wife and mother – is battling for her life
after being shot at point-blank range. Something has to be done at a national level to address
what is an obviously unacceptable, yet correctable situation.”

“The tragedy in Arizona is symptomatic of a failure in our society,” said York Mayor
Kim Bracey. “The system designed to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of dangerous
people failed. And our elected leaders, legislators from Washington to Harrisburg to Phoenix –
have failed to stand up to the gun lobby. We’re too familiar with this in Pennsylvania. In 2009,
another disturbed shooter murdered three Pittsburgh police officers with a military-style weapon.
If we don’t see action from our legislatures soon, we’re bound to see these tragedies over and
over again.”

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 “As a victim of gun violence, my deepest sympathies go out to the families and the
survivors in Tucson,” said NYPD Officer Steven McDonald. “I am deeply saddened by each new
gun tragedy, and I wait for the day that our country musters the courage to close deadly
loopholes in the law. I strongly support the points that Mayor Bloomberg is articulating today.”

In 2009, Mayors Against Illegal Guns presented the Blueprint for Federal Action on
Illegal Guns, a plan comprised of 40 concrete steps to crack down on illegal guns without
passing new legislation. The Blueprint report is available here:
www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/blueprint. Last week’s tragedy in Tucson reinforces the need
to implement the Blueprint and demands additional steps be taken to ensure such a tragedy never
happens again.

The additional common-sense steps are:

1. Fix the Background Check Gaps – Jared Loughner was a drug abuser, and should have
been barred under Federal law from purchasing and possessing firearms. Nonetheless, on
November 30, 2010, he bought a gun from a gun dealer in Tucson. Because of inadequate
resources, insufficient regulations, and inconsistent administration, the existing federal
National Instant Check System (NICS) fails regularly, omitting records of those who are
supposed to be prohibited from possessing guns. It must be revamped, and records on
drug abusers must be kept in the background check system for five years. Furthermore,
the NICS Improvement Act passed in the wake of Virginia Tech must finally receive full
funding.

2. Share Information and Connect the Dots – Although the United States military had
previously identified Jared Loughner as a drug abuser, there was no protocol in place to
alert the FBI and put that information into the gun background check database. At Fort
Hood, the same problem existed in the other direction; the FBI had identified an army
captain as a terrorist suspect but did not tell the military before he shot and killed 13
people. President Obama or the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives can
establish a protocol to ensure that every federal agency promptly informs FBI of known
drug abusers who belong in the FBI’s gun background check system.

3. Fill the Leadership Gap and Appoint an ATF Director – The Bureau of Alcohol
Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, the federal law enforcement agency responsible for
fighting gun crime, has operated without a Director for four and a half years. President
Obama has nominated Andrew Traver, a career law enforcement officer, to fill the
position. The nomination has the strong support of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and the
Senate should give Mr. Traver a careful and prompt review to help ATF spearhead the
fight against gun crime.

Congressman Peter King today also announced that he will introduce legislation that will
make it illegal to knowingly carry a gun within 1,000 feet of the President, Vice President,
Members of Congress or judges of the Federal Judiciary. In the United States, it is illegal to
bring a gun within 1,000 feet of a school. Passing a similar law for government officials would

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give federal, state, and local law enforcement a better chance to intercept would-be shooters
before they pull the trigger.

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Since its inception in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15
mayors to over 550. Mayors Against Illegal Guns has united the nation’s mayors around these
common goals: protecting their communities by holding gun offenders and irresponsible gun
dealers accountable, demanding access to trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to
combat illegal gun trafficking, and working with legislators to fix gaps, weaknesses and
loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other prohibited purchasers to get
guns.

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

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