2023 Adopted Resolutions

Congress Must Act Now to Reduce Gun Violence

1.  WHEREAS, 2023 is on track to have more mass shootings in the United States than occurred in any previous year; and

2.  WHEREAS, among the more than 200 mass shootings so far in 2023, on:
  • January 21, 11 people were killed and nine more injured in a dance studio near a large Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park;
  • January 23, seven people were killed and one more injured in a workplace shooting at two farms in Half Moon Bay;
  • February 13, five students were killed and five more injured on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing;
  • March 27, three nine-year-old students and three teachers were killed in the Coventry School in Nashville;
  • April 10, four people were killed and nine others, including at least two police officers, were injured in a shooting at a bank in downtown Louisville;
  • April 15, two people were killed and four others injured in a shooting at a park in Louisville on a Saturday night;
  • April 28, five family members, including a nine-year-old, were killed at a shooting in a home in Cleveland, Texas;
  • May 3, one person was killed, and four others injured in a mass shooting in a medical building in Midtown Atlanta;
  • May 6: eight people were killed, the youngest of whom was three years old, and seven people were injured, including the police officer who brought down the shooter, at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas; and
WHEREAS, while mass shootings garner more public attention, they only account for a small percentage of total gun deaths and the Centers for Disease Control report that in 2021, the most recent year for which complete data are available, 48,830 people died from gun-related injuries, with 54 percent of these suicides and 43 percent murders, many of which occur on the streets of our cities; and

3.  WHEREAS, since 2020 guns have been the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens (ages 1-18), accounting for 19 percent of childhood deaths; and

4.  WHEREAS, since 1968 The United States Conference of Mayors has formally adopted and aggressively promoted common-sense policies to reduce gun violence, all consistent with its support for the Second Amendment to the Constitution, and those policies include:
Strengthening the Regulation of Gun Sales and Dealers, including:
  • Requiring universal background checks for all gun sales and closing other loopholes in the background check system;
  • Limiting the number of guns a person may purchase in a single transaction or in a month or other specified period of time;
  • Banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines;
  • Banning replica handguns;
  • Banning the manufacture, sale, and possession of all 3D printed "ghost guns" and parts Increasing inspections of licensed gun dealers;
  • Targeting and holding responsible gun dealers who break the law by knowingly selling guns to straw purchasers; and
Supporting Local Efforts to Reduce and Combat Gun Crimes, including:
  • Opposing concealed carry reciprocity policies and legislation that would circumvent city policies established to protect residents;
  • Providing local governments and law enforcement officials access to ATF gun trace data;
  • Opposing "Stand Your Ground" or "Shoot First" laws and urging state legislatures that have adopted such laws to repeal them;
  • Supporting extreme risk protection ("red flag") order laws and urging both states and the federal government to enact such laws; and
  • Encouraging mayors to take executive actions to combat gun violence and illegal use and trafficking of guns;
Protecting Young People, including:
  • Opposing proposals to allow teachers and other non-law enforcement, non-security personnel to carry firearms in K-12 schools;
  • Raising the youth handgun ban from 18 to 21 years of age;
  • Banning juvenile possession of semiautomatic assault rifles; and
  • Holding gun owners criminally liable when children gain access to improperly stored guns;
Protecting Domestic Violence Victims, including:
  • Prohibiting persons convicted of domestic violence crimes or subject to final domestic violence restraining orders from acquiring or possessing firearms; and
  • Requiring prohibited domestic abusers to turn in firearms they already own;

WHEREAS, while mayors and police chiefs are doing everything they can to prevent and reduce gun violence in their cities, local ordinances are often preempted by state legislatures; and

5.  WHEREAS, The United States Conference of Mayors advocated passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and applauds the important improvements it is making in our gun laws and assistance it is providing to our cities; and

6.  WHEREAS, The United States Conference of Mayors applauds the Biden Administration for the many and important administrative actions it has taken to reduce gun violence in our cities and in this country,

7.  NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors believes that if we are serious about reducing gun violence Congress must act now and calls on Congress to quickly pass common sense gun safety legislation, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines, passing a strong federal red flag law, and raising the age to possess or purchase a handgun or assault weapon from 18 to 21.