text: Tucson Shooting Survivors, Victims' Families And MAIG Demand A Plan To Prevent Gun Violence - Gun Violence Prevention - News | The Joyce Foundation
  Tucson Shooting Survivors, Victims' Families And MAIG Demand A Plan To Prevent Gun Violence
  July 25, 2012 02:42 PM
  Victims of gun violence and Joyce grantee launch Demand A Plan campaign calling on President Obama and Governor Romney to present their plans to end gun violence
  In response to the tragedy in Aurora, a group of survivors and family members of victims of the January 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona today joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns to launch a national campaign, beginning with a full-page advertisement in USA Today, to demand a plan of action to reduce gun violence from President Obama and Governor Romney. The group of 12 survivors and family members partnered with MAIG, a bipartisan coalition of more than 700 mayors working to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, to urge the two presidential candidates to present their plans to end the gun violence that murders 34 people every day in the US.
  The campaign includes a web site – www.DemandAPlan.org – where visitors can sign a petition to demand that President Obama and Governor Romney tell the country specifically what they will do to end the bloodshed.
  The Joyce Foundation supports MAIG through grants to United Against Illegal Guns Support Fund, which coordinates MAIG and works to educate the public about the detrimental effects of illegal guns and to assist local governments and law enforcement agencies to develop effective policies to combat illegal guns.
  "President Obama and Governor Romney have offered sympathy for the victims of the Aurora shooting spree, but no solutions for dealing with the 34 Americans who are murdered with guns every single day," MAIG Co-Chair and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said. "We have heard enough people in Washington tell us that this is not the time to talk about gun violence – now it's time to hear from the men and women who have been directly affected by it. The Tucson survivors and families have been waiting 18 months for something to change, and they deserve to know – as do all Americans – how the men running for president plan to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people. We will not allow the candidates to turn a moment of silence into months of skirting the issue."
  "We've gone far too long without having a real conversation about gun violence in this country," MAIG Co-Chair and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. "We've expressed our condolences and we will never forget those who senselessly lost their lives in Tucson and Aurora – and sadly, the many other shootings we've experienced in this country – but the condolences are not enough anymore. We need meaningful action and we need it now."
  Full message, signed by the 11 surviors and family members, read:
  We are a diverse group - Republicans, Democrats, gun owners, a nurse, a retired teacher, a hunter, a veteran. Since tragedy brought us together, we've tried to fix our broken gun laws. Now, after another mass shooting, our leaders are calling for sympathy for the survivors. That's only right. But it's not enough.