Arkansan Affected By Gun Violence Expresses Disappointment In Senator Pryor's Vote Against Background Checks, Asks Him To Reconsider His Vote In New Television Ad

NEW YORK, May 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mayors Against Illegal Guns today announced a new television ad featuring Arkansan Angela Bradford-Barnes expressing disappointment in Senator Mark Pryor's recent vote against requiring background checks for all commercial gun sales.  Bradford-Barnes worked with State Democratic Party Chair Bill Gwatney who was murdered at work in 2008.  In the ad, Bradford-Barnes asks Senator Pryor to take another look at the bipartisan legislation proposed by NRA A-rated Senators Pat Toomey and Joe Manchin that would have closed the loopholes that make it easy for dangerous people to get guns.

The ad can be viewed on www.TakeAnotherLookMark.org where visitors can also sign a petition to ask Senator Pryor to reconsider his vote on background checks.

"Gun violence has personally affected my life in a tremendous way.  I have spent years working for Arkansas' Democrats and was at work with Bill Gwatney the day he was senselessly taken from us," said Bradford-Barnes of Little Rock. "The pain of that experience will always be a part of me. Like 84 percent of Arkansans I support universal background checks. Thus, I was heart broken to see that Senator Pryor opposed the bipartisan bill because it will save lives. This bill may not be perfect, and it cannot undue my tragic loss, but if it stops even one person from causing this pain to another family, it's worth it. I hope that if Senator Pryor is given another chance to lead on this issue he thinks first about Arkansas voters like me."

The new television ad, which follows previous ads on Senators Ayotte and Flake, will begin airing on broadcast and cable statewide today and over the next two weeks.  The ad can also be seen here: www.DemandAction.org/Pryor

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

Contact:
Mayor Bloomberg's Press Office: (212) 788-2958
Mayor Menino's Press Office: (617) 635-4461

Erika Soto Lamb: [email protected] or 646-580-5281

SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns