Vote On Gun Bills Today: Survivors And Gun Policy Experts Available For Interviews Pre- And Post-Vote Expected At 4 PM
MEDIA AVAILABILITY ADVISORY
Vice President Biden to Host a Google+ Hangout with Members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns at 2:45 PM EDT; Watch live here: wh.gov/live
Bipartisan Legislation From Toomey and Manchin Would Require Background Checks for Commercial Gun Sales; www.DemandAction.org
WASHINGTON, April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following individuals are available for interviews today before and after expected 4:00 PM EDT Senate votes on important gun reform legislation. Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin's bipartisan legislation to require background checks for commercial gun sales – including at gun shows, online and via classified ads – will save lives by closing the loopholes that allow criminals and other dangerous people to get guns easily. Last week Mayors Against Illegal Guns released a fact sheet on the Manchin-Toomey amendment.
In addition, at 2:45 PM EDT, Vice President Biden will host a Google+ Hangout on reducing gun violence with members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns including:
- Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, Gary, IN
- Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore, MD
- Mayor R.T. Rybak, Minneapolis, MN
- Mayor Steve Scaffidi, Oak Creek, WI
Watch it live at wh.gov/live.
Gun Violence Survivors And Family Members
Colonel Bill Badger (Tucson) - Colonel Badger is a retired U.S. Army Colonel (1952-1990, active and reserve), a gun owner, hunter, and a registered Republican. He was invited to the Congress on the Corner event by Rep. Giffords's staff after he expressed his opposition to the health care reform bill. Colonel Badger was shot in the back of the head by the shooter and fell to the ground. As the shooter reached for his second ammunition clip, Colonel Badger grabbed the shooter, hit him in the shoulder to knock him to the ground and put him in a choke hold.
Stephen Barton (Aurora) – Stephen was shot with 25 shotgun pellets in the face, neck, chest, and arms during the Aurora movie theatre shooting. He was staying overnight in Aurora during a cross-country bicycle trip with his childhood best friend, Ethan Rodriguez-Torrent. Stephen graduated from Syracuse University in May 2012 and has postponed a Fulbright Fellowship to focus on his physical recovery and work on gun violence prevention. He currently works as an Outreach and Policy Associate for Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
Roxanna Green (Tucson) - Roxanna's nine year old daughter, Christina-Taylor Green, attended Rep. Giffords's Congress on Your Corner event with a neighbor, Suzi Hileman. Christina-Taylor was murdered and Suzi Hileman was shot in the chest. Christina-Taylor was born on Sept. 11, 2001. Since her daughter's death, Roxanna has created the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundation to honor the memory of her daughter.
Lori Haas (Virginia Tech) – Lori's daughter Emily was shot and injured in the mass shooting at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, in which 32 of her classmates and professors were murdered. The shooter had been adjudicated mentally ill and was prohibited from buying firearms. But his mental health records had not been submitted to the background check database, so he was able to pass a check and buy the murder weapons from a licensed gun dealer. Lori currently works as a gun violence prevention advocate.
Erica Lafferty (Newtown) - Erica's mother Dawn Hochsprung was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School who was murdered with a gun in the Newtown shooting. Dawn died trying to disarm the shooter and protect her students and was a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal.
Pat Maisch (Tucson) - Pat attended Rep. Giffords's Congress on your Corner event. Pat helped disarm the shooter by grabbing his second magazine clip after he was tackled. Pat testified before the Senate Crime Subcommittee in support of closing loopholes in the background check system on Nov. 15, 2011.
Pam Simon (Tucson) – Pam attended the January 8th Congress on Your Corner event as Rep. Giffords's Community Outreach Director. Pam was shot in the chest and hand. Pam recently retired, and prior to working as Rep. Giffords Community Outreach Coordinator, was a middle school teacher.
Jillian and Carlee Soto (Newtown) – Jillian and Carlee's sister Victoria was a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School who was murdered with a gun in the Newtown shooting. Victoria died protecting her students and was a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal. Jillian and Carlee are college students.
Gun Violence Experts
John Feinblatt was appointed Chief Policy Advisor to New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in February 2010. In addition to developing and implementing policies that cut across city agencies, Mr. Feinblatt leads the Mayor's national coalitions on guns, immigration reform, and infrastructure investment. Since 2002, he has held the position of Criminal Justice Coordinator for the City of New York. He serves as the Mayor's chief advisor on criminal justice policy and liaison to the state court system, the city's five elected District Attorneys and the state criminal justice system. Prior to joining the Bloomberg administration, Mr. Feinblatt was the founding director of the Center for Court Innovation, the country's leading think tank devoted to problem solving justice.
Mark Glaze is Director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan coalition of more than 900 U.S. mayors working to keep illegal guns out of dangerous hands co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. Mr. Glaze is the son of a former federally licensed gun dealer in Colorado, but as he says often in interviews, we are no longer dealing with his father's NRA. He is also a principal at The Raben Group, a public policy consulting firm with offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.
David Chipman is a Senior Advisor with Mayors Against Illegal Guns and previously served for 25 years as a special agent in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). During Mr. Chipman's tenure with ATF, he worked to combat illegal gun trafficking and violent crime across the country. He also became a certified explosives specialist and a member of ATF's National Response Team, assisting in on-scene investigations following bombings at the World Trade Center in 1993 and the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
About Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 members to more than 900 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
CONTACTS
Erika Soto Lamb: [email protected] or 646-580-5281
Alex Katz: [email protected] or 617-721-3779
SOURCE MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS / RABEN GROUP
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