Mayor Tim Keller Joins the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns

April 5, 2018

Mayor Tim Keller joined more than 1,000 mayors to take a stand against illegal guns. Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) is a national, non-partisan group of mayors declaring that illegal guns are a great threat to public safety and taking steps to address gun violence in our cities and schools.

More than 30,000 Americans are killed every year by gun violence, including 12,000 who are murdered. Many of the recent homicides in Albuquerque are related to gun violence, and domestic violence and child abuse become deadly far too often due to illegal guns.

Mayor Keller signed the Mayors Against Illegal Guns’ Statement of Principles, which call for large and small-town mayors of all parties to work together to find innovative new ways to:

• Punish criminals who possess, use, and traffic in illegal guns to the maximum extent of the law.
• Target and hold accountable irresponsible gun dealers who break the law by knowingly selling guns to straw purchasers.
• Extend background check requirements to all gun sales, including the private sales that take place online and at gun shows.
• Oppose all federal efforts to restrict cities’ right to access, use, and share trace data that is so essential to effective enforcement, or to interfere with the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to combat illegal gun trafficking.
• Work to develop and use technologies that aid in the detection and tracing of illegal guns.
• Support all local state and federal legislation that targets illegal guns; coordinate legislative, enforcement, and litigation strategies; and share information and best practices.

“As the Mayor of Albuquerque, I join my fellow mayors across the nation in promoting and advocating for common-sense laws that decrease the escalating epidemic of gun violence and protect children, families and all residents,” said Keller. “Tackling the problem of illegal guns is key to building a safe, inclusive and innovative Albuquerque.”

The group Mayors Against Illegal Guns has existed since 2006, when former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino founded it as a non-partisan coalition of 15 mayors. The group is now part of a trio of affiliated gun policy groups that includes Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

Mayor Keller recently spoke at the March for Our Lives, you can watch his speech here: