Nevada Moms, Children To Hold Mother's Day Rally In Las Vegas On Friday To Raise Gun Violence Awareness

LAS VEGAS, May 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following release is being issued by Mayors Against Illegal Guns:

Mothers, children and others who have been affected by gun violence will gather in Las Vegas Friday to raise gun violence awareness. They will deliver Mother's Day cards to Senator Dean Heller, who voted against life-saving background checks. Recent independent polls have found that 90 percent of Nevadans support background checks for all buyers.

Last month Senator Heller was among those who voted against bipartisan legislation proposed by NRA A-rated Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey that would have closed the loopholes that make it easy for criminals and dangerous people to get guns.

Nevadans can sign a Mother's Day card urging Senator Heller to take action on gun violence here.

In addition, to mark Mother's Day, Roxanna Green, whose nine year-old daughter Christina-Taylor Green was killed in the 2011 Tucson mass shooting, released a video message. Link to the video here.

Event details are below.

Las Vegas

What: Mothers and children deliver Mother's Day Cards to Senator Heller

Who: Local activist and concerned mother of four Leisa Moseley, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and concerned citizens

Where: Lloyd D. George Federal Building, 333 Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas

When: Friday, May 10 at 4 PM

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 members to more than 950 mayors from across the country. We have more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters, making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country.  The bipartisan coalition, co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has united the nation's mayors around these common goals: protecting communities by holding gun offenders accountable; demanding access to crime gun trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat gun trafficking; and working with legislators to fix weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other dangerous people to get guns.  Learn more at www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org

MEDIA CONTACT
Erika Soto Lamb: erika@maig.org or 646-580-5281
Kate Downen: kdownen@maig.org or 406-224-5056

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns

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Pennsylvania Moms, Children To Hold Pittsburgh Mother's Day Rally On Saturday To Raise Gun Violence Awareness

PITTSBURGH, May 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following release is being issued by Mayors Against Illegal Guns:

Mothers, children and others who have been affected by gun violence will gather in Pittsburgh Saturday to raise gun violence awareness.

In April, Senators Pat Toomey and Robert Casey stood with 88 percent of Pennsylvania voters and voted to expand background checks to private gun sales at gun shows and online. Pennsylvania Representatives Mike Fitzpatrick, Pat Meehan, Matt Cartwright, Robert Brady and Chaka Fattah have co-sponsored identical legislation in the House. The Pittsburgh event aims to thank Senator Toomey and Senator Casey for their leadership and to raise awareness to the Pennsylvania delegation about the effects of gun violence on mothers and children.  Recent independent polls have found that 88 percent of Pennsylvanians support background checks for all buyers.  

In addition, to mark Mother's Day, Roxanna Green, whose nine year-old daughter Christina-Taylor Green was killed in the 2011 Tucson mass shooting, released a video message. Link to the video here.

Event details are below.

What:   
Mother's Day Rally Against Gun Violence

Who:
Marsha Grayson, mother of Honor Student Jeron Grayson who was murdered while home on Spring Break; Ms. Sharon Fields of Healing Wounds Family Support Group; Reggie Roberts of Ceasefire-PA, State Rep. Ed Gainey and Mayors Against Illegal Guns

When:   
Saturday, May 11, 11:00  AM

Where:
Rodman Street Baptist Church, 6111 Rodman Street, Pittsburgh

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 members to more than 950 mayors from across the country. We have more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters, making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country.  The bipartisan coalition, co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has united the nation's mayors around these common goals: protecting communities by holding gun offenders accountable; demanding access to crime gun trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat gun trafficking; and working with legislators to fix weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other dangerous people to get guns.  Learn more at www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org

MEDIA CONTACT
Dave Scholnick, dscholnick@maig.org or 717-723-8864
Kate Downen: kdownen@maig.org or 406-224-5056

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns

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At NYC May Day rally, calls for a more liberal immigration reform bill

Protesters hold up signs criticizing the current immigration reform bill on May 1, 2013 in New York City. (Goo …

One might imagine that activists at the pro-immigrant, pro-labor May Day rally in New York City would be happy about the bipartisan immigration reform bill currently in the Senate. But signs and activists at Wednesday's rally called the current draft bill an "unjust" plan that will leave out too many immigrants in its legalization scheme and focus too much on increased enforcement at the border.

One popular sign at the rally featured the face of Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, behind barbed wire. The words: "No to Schumer and the Gang of 8," in Spanish—referring to the eight senators who hashed out the plan.

Activists said the immigration compromise—which trades stricter enforcement of current laws for a 13-year path to citizenship for most of the nation's 11 million unauthorized immigrants—is unjust and unacceptable.

The rally was part of 85 May Day demonstrations taking place in Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix and other cities pushing for immigration reform and labor rights. They drew thousands of protesters, according to organizers.

"I speak for most immigrants when I say the gang of 8 is doing a bill that will give us almost nothing," said Carlos Canales, a community organizer from Freehold, N.J. "It's going to end up to be an elitist immigration reform."

Canales said he's organizing a hunger strike in front of Schumer's New York office in the coming weeks to urge him to change the bill to address criticisms from the left. Canales objects to the requirement that immigrants who want to be legalized must prove they've been employed since December of 2011 to qualify. He said many unauthorized immigrants will have trouble proving employment because they work in more transitory jobs that don't keep records.

A Schumer spokesman, Max Young, said the bill has drawn "wide support among prominent Latino and pro-immigration organizations." And an organizer of the May Day rallies, Ben Monterroso, stressed that "there's so many good things in the bill," even if activists have some concerns.

"Senator Schumer is working with the length and breadth of the Hispanic community to pass an immigration bill that accelerates family reunification and that sets a path to citizenship that gets all eligible 11 million people out of the shadows and into legal status as quickly as possible," said Young.

Other activists at the rally said they object to the way the bill will shift the legal immigration system to prioritize skill- and employment-based visas. Under the current proposal, visas for adult siblings of U.S. citizens will be eliminated, and a cut-off age for applying for green cards for adult children will be instituted.

Christina Chang, an advocacy associate for the Korean American group Minkwon Center for Community Action, said she does not believe the current bill is unjust, but that she hopes it changes substantially in the coming weeks. "It's a fundamental change from a family-based immigration system to one that's merit based," Chang said.

Her group also believes that immigrants could end up waiting 20 years or longer to become citizens under the bill, if lawmakers continue to make the process contingent on the U.S.-Mexico border meeting certain security standards.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill May 9. Advocates believe it will be introduced on the Senate floor by May 25.

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In Denver, Obama tries to rally support for gun buyer background checks

By Jeff Mason

DENVER (Reuters) - Stricter gun laws passed by Colorado's state government show it is possible to require background checks for all gun buyers without infringing on gun ownership rights, President Barack Obama will argue in a speech in the state on Wednesday.

Obama is trying to shore up flagging support in Congress for gun-control legislation, speaking on the topic at events in Colorado on Wednesday and next week in Connecticut, two states that have worked on tougher gun laws in the wake of shocking mass shootings.

Obama proposed a series of new measures, including universal background checks and new penalties for gun trafficking, after 20 children and six adults were killed in a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in December.

The Senate has delayed debate on the proposals because lawmakers have not been able to reach agreement on expanding background checks, a centerpiece of the package which is opposed by the National Rifle Association, the powerful U.S. gun lobby.

"I think that Colorado has shown that practical progress is possible by enacting tougher background checks that won't infringe on the rights of responsible gun owners, but will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people," Obama said in excerpts from his prepared remarks.

The excerpts were released by the White House ahead of the speech in Denver, slated to begin at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT).

Last month, Colorado's state government mandated universal background checks for all gun buyers. The new law came after the state experienced two mass shootings, a July 2012 shooting at a movie theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora, and the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School.

In his remarks, Obama emphasized that the state is also a home to hunters and sportsmen who value gun ownership rights.

"I'm here because I believe there's no conflict between reconciling these realities," said Obama, noting that he has received "stacks of letters" from gun owners who also want gun violence curbed.

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Thomas Ferraro; Editng by Todd Eastham)

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