KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Following a deadly week due to gun violence in Kansas City and across the country, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and 27 of his mayoral colleagues today urged President Joe Biden to take swift action to make America’s cities safer, including: mandating universal background checks, closing gun show loopholes, and taking regulatory and enforcement actions to bring accountability to social media platforms that allow illegal gun trafficking to occur on their platforms.

This letter follows weeks of productive discussions between Mayor Lucas and senior White House staff, including Domestic Policy Adviser Susan Rice and White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Director Julie Chávez Rodríguez, in both Washington, D.C. and Kansas City on ways the federal government and local jurisdictions can partner to reduce violent crime—particularly gun violence. Since becoming mayor, Mayor Lucas has worked with the United States Department of Justice under both the Trump and Biden Administrations to create a safer community.

“It is important that your Administration continue to take a leadership role in enacting meaningful and common-sense gun control legislation,” the mayors wrote. “We are clear-eyed about the political challenges, but now more than ever, we need to continue this hard but necessary work. So many cities and towns are now dots on a map of mass shootings that could have been prevented if there was a federal web of uniform laws on background checks, eliminating access to guns for those who have a demonstrated history of mental illness or other disqualifying conditions, just to name a few. The challenges that cities and states face around the proliferation of crime guns do not respect geographic boundaries, and require a federal set of laws.”

On a local level, Mayor Lucas yesterday sent a letter to his colleagues on the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, urging the Board to use its monthly meetings to discuss specific plans the Kansas City Police Department is undertaking to prevent violent crime and address gun violence.

Since becoming mayor, Mayor Lucas has fought to keep guns out of the hands of minors and domestic abusers. Last year, Kansas City also became the first city in more than 10 years to sue a gun manufacturer, when the City filed a lawsuit against Jimenez Arms who helped traffic illegal guns—which were used in murders—into our community. The City has also filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who conducted a deficient investigation before granting a new license to the operators of Jimenez Arms, offering a particularly dangerous example of what prior reporting has shown to be lax oversight by the Agency.

Full text of the letter is attached and below:

Dear Mr. President:

We write to congratulate you and your Administration on the steps you have already taken to address the scourge of gun violence we face in cities across America. These include the Department of Justice’s proposed rules to stop the proliferation of ghost guns and clarify that when individuals use accessories to convert pistols into short-barreled rifles, they must comply with the heightened regulations on those dangerous and easily concealable weapons; the Department’s publication of a model state red flag law; and the prioritization of gun violence intervention efforts in the various grant programs and increased funding to carry them out. We also applaud the actions announced by the Justice Department on May 26th that will bring together and enlist U.S. Attorneys, the Department’s law enforcement agencies and other relevant Department components in a coordinated and comprehensive violent crime reduction initiative.

We believe there are other steps that the federal government is uniquely qualified to take to enhance the efforts already underway. These steps will help to reduce the epidemic of gun violence that we face daily in our cities:

Continue to use the platform of the Presidency to make reducing gun violence not just a law enforcement priority, but truly a public health imperative. Stressing the importance of root cause analysis and supporting investments in mental health, community health initiatives, our youth – particularly efforts to help them reconnect to school and community in the aftermath of the pandemic – as well as support for proven efforts to help returning residents transition back into communities from incarceration are all crucial. These and other efforts to build peaceful and vibrant neighborhoods are essential and the effective use of soft power interventions. As you know well, we cannot police our way out of this problem, but saying it is not good enough. As a nation, we need to take concrete, tangible steps and as our leader, your voice is critically important in this fight.

It is important that your Administration continue to take a leadership role in enacting meaningful and common-sense gun control legislation. We are clear-eyed about the political challenges, but now more than ever, we need to continue this hard but necessary work. So many cities and towns are now dots on a map of mass shootings that could have been prevented if there was a federal web of uniform laws on background checks, eliminating access to guns for those who have a demonstrated history of mental illness or other disqualifying conditions, just to name a few. The challenges that cities and states face around the proliferation of crime guns do not respect geographic boundaries, and require a federal set of laws.

Here are some specific steps that must be taken:

• We need universal background checks and closure of simple loopholes, a ban on assault weapons, and policies that keep guns out of the hands of people who are dangerous to themselves and others as well as promote gun safety.
• Additionally, adequate federal enforcement of existing laws is critical, including supporting federal efforts to investigate federally licensed gun dealers, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) which has been constrained by the gun lobby. Illegal gun trafficking market originating in other states and ending up on the streets of cities like Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, St. Louis and others is a significant source of the gun violence in these and other cities. Interstate gun trafficking requires a federal focus. It can never be adequately addressed by local law enforcement alone and requires sufficient staffing.
• Additionally, every day, on social media platforms, illegal gun sales are happening among criminals. Here again, local law enforcement has limited tools to address this significant threat.  There needs to be both regulatory and enforcement actions to bring accountability to these social media platforms that often ignore the problem entirely and make it difficult for local law enforcement to stop these illegal sales. The weight of the federal government is needed to elevate this issue and demand a level of accountability that will keep our residents safe. 
• Finally, we urge this Administration to authorize the provision of resources for the purchase of National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBN) machines and staffing for more firearms examiners. These two elements would be important and worthwhile investments.

We stand ready to work with you and Vice President Harris, Ambassador Susan Rice and Attorney General Merrick Garland to see these actions implemented as quickly as possible and this administrative and legislative agenda achieved.

Sincerely,

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