Contact: Americans United For Safe Streets
Virginia Lam, (212) 843-8342

For Immediate Release

Americans United For Safe Streets Launches Education Campaign to Urge Congress to Get Serious About Fighting Crime and Illegal Guns

Mail campaign focuses on getting five members of Congress to take swift action on key anti-crime legislation

(October 28, 2009) - Americans United for Safe Streets, a newly launched non-partisan advocacy organization, today announced a campaign to persuade five Members of Congress in five states to act to pass legislation to fight gun crime on our streets. The public education campaign involves sending more than 350,000 pieces of mail to 120,000 citizens in Delaware, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio.

The campaign highlights legislation and urges Congressional action on issues, such as:

  • Closing the gun show loophole, as outlined in HR 96.
  • Ending the "Tiahrt Amendment" appropriations restrictions on local police access to gun crime data that can help identify gun traffickers and problem gun dealers.
  • Ending the "firesales" that allow gun dealers who break the law to continue selling guns by passing HR 6664.
  • Providing funding to hire 50,000 new local police officers to help cities and towns across the country fight rising crime, as outlined in HR 1700.

"Our goal is to educate constituents about the records of their Representatives on critical crime issues and to urge them to act to pass legislation to fight gun crime," said Virginia Lam, spokesperson for Americans United for Safe Streets. "With violent crime once again on the rise and with fatal shootings of police officers up 20% in 2007, it’s past time for our leaders in Congress to act to combat gun criminals."

The mail campaign focuses on five members of Congress:

  • Rep. Tom Feeney (FL-24), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, which has oversight over most crime issues
  • Rep. Steve Chabot (OH-1), also a member of the House Judiciary Committee
  • Rep. Joe Knollenberg (MI-7), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over law enforcement agency budgets and is responsible for the Tiahrt Amendment restrictions on gun trace data
  • Rep. Mike Castle (DE-at large), author of HR 96, legislation that would close the gun show loophole
  • Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-4), a co-sponsor of HR 2074, legislation that would close the "terror gap" in gun background checks to prevent terrorists from buying guns

American United for Safe Streets is a non-partisan advocacy groups funded by private individuals, including Michael R. Bloomberg.

The mail pieces can be viewed at: http://www.americansunitedforsafestreets.org/campaigns.php

For more information, please visit: www.americansunitedforsafestreets.org