“Policies like background checks on all gun sales and Red Flag Laws save lives,” said Karen Freeman-Wilson, mayor of Gary, Ind. | M. Spencer Green/AP Photo Conference of Mayors passes resolutions favoring gun control

The bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a series of resolutions calling for more gun control measures during the group's annual meeting in Boston this week.

The conference is advocating measures to strengthen the regulation of gun sales and dealers, as well as ban assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.


“The U.S. Conference has a 50-year history of formally adopting and aggressively promoting strong policies to reduce gun violence, all consistent with its support for the Second Amendment to the Constitution,” the group said.

Additionally, the group called for steps it said would protect young people — like opposing letting teachers and other non-law enforcement personnel be armed in K-12 schools — and cited incidents like February’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, as impetus for its push.

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The group also passed a resolution backing red flag laws that allow “family members and law enforcement to seek court permission to temporarily remove guns from a person in crisis.”

“Policies like background checks on all gun sales and Red Flag Laws save lives,” said Karen Freeman-Wilson, mayor of Gary, Indiana, and chair of the conference’s criminal and social justice committee. “The U.S. Conference of Mayors will continue doing everything in our power to keep our communities safe so that children and families are able to live free of the fear of being gunned down.”

Gun control advocates including the group Everytown for Gun Safety lauded the move.

“Mayors are on the frontlines of America’s gun violence crisis, so it’s no surprise they’re also leading the charge to pass common-sense, life-saving laws,” Everytown President John Fienblatt said in a statement. “It’s time for our leaders in Washington to follow the lead of America’s mayors and put public safety over NRA priorities.”

