Fourteen Cincinnati-area mayors yesterday signed on to the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. Started last year by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, the group wants to repeal an amendment attached to the U.S. Department of Justice’s appropriations bill since 2003 that restricts the abilities of law enforcement to use information gathered from the tracing of guns.
The group also plans to develop effective anti-gun strategies. Bloomberg came to Cincinnati to help Mayor Mark Mallory announce the regional support. “This is not a big-city thing or a partisan thing,” he said. “The only people who should be upset about this are criminals. The point is, we need to make our views known.” The NRA cites “egomaniacal nature” of Bloomberg’s “crusade” to foist bad, failed gun policies on cities other than his own. A newer group, the American Hunters and Shooters Association, supports the mayors. Mallory said it was the first time a regional group of mayors joined the coalition as a bloc. Covington, Ky., Mayor Butch Callery said the problem of guns requires a regional approach. “Unfortunately, criminals don’t know any boundaries and guns don’t either,” he said. “This is taking a regional approach to the problem. We need to do more of that in our area.”
Link: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070413/NEWS01/704130396/1077/COL02