Leaders from across the state met in Lansing Monday to talk about how they can take part in a national effort to end gun violence. Mayor Virg Bernero joined police, community and school officials from Lansing, Flint and Saginaw in a push for more federal regulation of gun control.
"Enough
is enough. We've got to take action. We've done all we can at the local
level, but there are simple, effective strategies that can take place
at the federal level that are necessary," said Bernero.
The
gathering of both law enforcement and community leaders wanted to make
clear that the incident in Newtown was just a sample of a larger problem
that hits the nation.
"When you take a look at what's happening
in communities large and small across the state, you'll see that
there's more than one life lost to gun violence every day," said Flint
Mayor Dayne Walling.
They all spoke about the need for the president to move forward on the following three measures:
- Requiring a criminal background check for all gun sales
- Banning military-style assault weapons and high capacity-magazines
- Making gun trafficking a federal crime
Mayor Bernero, along with Mayor Dayne Walling of Flint, talked about recent shooting deaths in their cities and why we have to end gun violence now.
Federal law only requires background checks for licensed dealers. But
because more than 6.5 million guns per year are sold privately, between
40 and 50 percent of gun sales happen without a background check. But
the discussion doesn't end with just background checks and a weapons
ban.
"We need to make sure that people with mental illness don't
have access to guns, but we also need to make sure that people with
mental illness do have access to treatment, which they too often don't
have in this state and other places in this country," said Bernero.
Bernero also announced the city will release a new television ad featuring family members of gun violence victims in the hopes of bringing more awareness. Those ads will start running this week.
For a link to see the ad early, visit Seen on 6.
