Battle Creek Times

To honor those personally impacted by gun violence and mark the start of the fifth annual National Gun Violence Survivors Week, Mayor Neeley announced today that he has joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a national nonpartisan coalition of more than 1,000 current and former mayors committed to ending gun violence in communities across America.

These leaders implement and advocate for life-saving gun safety reforms from local programs and municipal ordinances to local, state, and federal legislation. While their backgrounds may differ, they speak with one voice – united against gun violence for the sake of saving lives.

“Guns in the wrong hands have devastated families and communities across this great country,” Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said. “We need to do more and we will do more. In 2021, we declared a gun violence emergency in the city of Flint. In 2022, we saw homicides decrease 36%. We are aggressively pursuing funding and implementing innovative programs to ensure that gun violence and violent crime continue to trend downward.”

By early February, more people are killed with guns in the United States than are killed with guns in any other high-income country in an entire year, and thousands more are shot and wounded or witness acts of gun violence. National Gun Violence Survivors Week is a time to share and amplify the stories and voices of gun violence survivors who live with the impact of gun violence every day.

“Survivors of gun violence are part of a club that no one wants to join, and the trauma from gun violence never simply goes away,” said Keenon M. James, Senior Director of the Everytown Survivor Network whose brother, Sean, was shot and killed in Takoma Park, Maryland in 1993. “By joining Mayors Against Illegal Guns during National Gun Violence Survivors Week, Mayor Neeley is recognizing the pain and resilience of countless families like mine, and standing shoulder to shoulder with us — this week and throughout the year — as we continue to fight for safer communities.”

As a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Mayor Neeley is committed to reducing gun violence in Flint, MI. Mayor Neeley pledges to do all he can to keep firearms out of the wrong hands and encourage responsible gun ownership to keep the community safe.

The centerpiece of National Gun Violence Survivors Week is Moments That Survive, a year-round digital storytelling site in which people across the country share their lived experience with gun violence in their own words. Moments That Survive builds community among gun violence survivors and helps the public understand how everyday life changes as a result of gun violence. All told, 59 percent of adults in America, including 71 percent of Black and 60 percent of Latinx adults, or someone they care about has experienced gun violence in their lifetime, demonstrating the reach and impact gun violence has in communities across America.

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 mayors of major American cities to more than 1,000 current and former mayors. The nonpartisan coalition has united mayors around these common goals: advancing enforcement and data collection strategies to prevent gun violence; investing in survivor services and violence intervention programs to address gun violence; and advocating for gun safety legislation at the local, state, and federal level. Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a joint program of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund and Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with nearly 10 million supporters and more than 700,000 donors. 

Learn more at mayors.everytown.org.

Original source can be found here.