Everytown Announces Kansas City Mayor Lucas, St. Louis Mayor Jones Among New Co-Chairs of Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Announcement Comes On the Heels of the Fourth Annual Gun Violence Survivors Week; Last Week, President Biden Traveled to New York to Meet with Mayor Adams, Other Leaders Regarding Recent Gun Violence 

Mayor Jones and Mayor Lucas have Been Leaders for Gun Violence Prevention, Taking Action to Fund Violence Intervention Work and Holding Reckless Gun Dealers Accountable

NEW YORK — Today, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, announced that Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Quinton Lucas and St. Louis, Missouri Mayor Tishaura O. Jones are two of 10 new co-chairs– the first new co-chairs Mayors Against Illegal Guns has had since its founding in 2006. The new co-chairs join founding chair Mike Bloomberg as leaders of the nonpartisan coalition, and also include: Baltimore, Maryland Mayor Brandon Scott; Chattanooga, Tennessee Mayor Tim Kelly; Former Columbia, South Carolina Mayor Steve Benjamin; Mount Vernon, New York Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard; New York, New York Mayor Eric Adams; Former Stockton, California Mayor Michael Tubbs; Tampa, Florida Mayor Jane Castor; and Tucson, Arizona Mayor Regina Romero.

“Gun violence is the central issue challenging mayors’ cities,” said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas. “I look forward to working with mayors and thought leaders across the country on ensuring that we cure once and for all the epidemic of gun violence on our streets.”

“Addressing gun violence and making our neighborhoods safer requires an all-hands-on-deck approach,” said St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. “I’m proud to join fellow mayors across the county and continue working to advance solutions to gun violence as a co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.”

“Mayor Jones and Mayor Lucas are strong leaders in the gun safety movement — we are thrilled to continue working alongside them to protect Missourians from gun violence in their new roles as co-chairs of Mayors Against Illegal Guns,” said Clarissa Hollander, chapter leader of the Missouri chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Our state has some of the weakest gun laws and highest rates of gun violence in the nation. There’s no question that local solutions to gun violence will save lives, and we are excited to continue working with Mayors Lucas and Jones to continue working to advance gun safety measures.”

“City leaders like Mayors Jones and Lucas are on the frontlines of America’s gun violence epidemic, but they can’t win this fight without help from leaders at all levels of government,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Every corner of America has been touched by gun violence, which means that every elected official needs to put ensuring public safety ahead of scoring political points.”

“In 2006, when Congress wasn’t willing to take on the NRA, Tom Menino and I teamed up with other mayors to create an organization that would – and did, very effectively,” said Mike Bloomberg, founding chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns and 108th mayor of New York City. “It’s great to see the next generation of mayors band together and pick up the fight, including Mayor Lucas and Mayor Jones. The more that mayors work together – and stand together in state capitols and Congress – the more able our cities will be to stop crime and save lives.”

A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since 2019,  Kansas City Mayor Lucas has taken important steps to keep his community safe, including holding gun dealers and manufacturers accountable for supplying illegal guns that have been used in crime in his city, and advancing innovative local ordinances to keep guns out of the hands of minors and domestic abusers.

A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since her election in 2021, St. Louis Mayor Jones was  one of the first mayors in the country to announce her intention to use American Rescue Plan funding to address local gun violence. She has been outspoken about dangerous state laws, like the Second Amendment Preservation Act, that limit the ability of cities like Kansas City and St. Louis to fight gun crime. 

In 2006, then-New York City Mayor Bloomberg and then-Boston Mayor Menino founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns as an original coalition of 15 mayors. The coalition has since grown to a nonpartisan group of more than 1,000 current and former mayors from the smallest towns to the biggest cities in nearly every state. In 2013, Moms Demand Action and Mayors Against Illegal Guns came together to form Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization now with more than 8 million supporters.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns members implement and advocate for life-saving gun safety reforms from local community violence intervention programs and enforcement strategies, to municipal-level gun safety ordinances, and state and federal legislation. The newly announced co-chairs of Mayors Against Illegal Guns will serve two year terms. During their tenure, co-chairs will provide leadership and stewardship for the coalition and advise on priorities and policies. 

Last week, President Biden traveled to New York to meet with Mayors Against Illegal Guns co-chair Mayor Eric Adams to discuss gun violence and unveil a suite of new gun safety initiatives aimed at curbing gun violence. While leaning in on federal, state, and local law enforcement partnerships to crack down on gun violence and gun trafficking, the President gave particular focus to ghost guns, the fastest growing gun safety threat in the country. The President also focused on addressing the illegal guns that move through the “Iron Pipeline” and prioritizing the prosecution of unlicensed dealers who sell guns without a background check. Everytown’s analysis of gun trace data shows the significant impact of interstate gun trafficking: over the past five years, approximately a third of the one million guns recovered in crimes crossed state lines, the vast majority originating in states that lack fundamental gun safety laws. Additionally, the President called on Congress to reach an agreement on Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations that includes $200 million in dedicated grant funding for community-based violence intervention programs, further underscoring his commitment to local violence prevention and intervention strategies.

The announcement comes on the heels of the fourth annual National Gun Violence Survivors Week, which took place February 1-7. By early February, more Americans are killed by gun violence than are killed in other high-income nations in an entire year. National Gun Violence Survivors Week seeks to share and amplify the stories of gun violence survivors who live every day with the agonizing and unending impact of gun violence.

Last week, Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, released a new report: “When the Shooting Stops: The Impact of Gun Violence on Survivors in America.” The report provides an in-depth look at the lasting emotional, physical, legal, and financial traumas on America’s gun violence survivors and their communities. The report is the most geographically comprehensive to date, with respondents from 46 states, and the broadest, looking at a full spectrum of survivors, ranging from mass shootings and intimate-partner gun violence, to suicide, community gun violence, and more.