Mayors Favor Collective Letter On Federal Gun Reform

The mayor of Orinda has signed on to the national mayors' letter seeking gun law reform.

The mayor of Moraga is in favor but first will bring the idea before the Town Council.

A letter signed by 750 mayors in the nation — including dozens from California — has gone to President Obama, calling for federal action to curb gun violence in the country. The letter was written by the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns and was sent to President Obama last week in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting Dec. 14.

Orinda Mayor Amy Worth got on to the Mayors Against Illegal Guns' website and signed on to the letter. "I'm profoundly, deeply saddened by what happened," Worth said. "It is important for the mayors of the nation to say we need to address this."

The mayors' letter advocates:
• toughening requirements for criminal background checks for gun buyers.
• getting military-style and high capacity rifles off the street
• making gun trafficking a federal crime.

Also, Worth said, she feels government needs to increase funding for mental health services and research. Advances in understanding about brain function need to be applied to curbing violent behavior in mental patients, she said.

Newtown, Conn., and Orinda are towns similar in size and demographics. Worth said she felt the irony that one city was "suffering unimaginable pain and agony" while, on the other coast, one was "celebrating a lovely honor" — Orinda's designation on Forbes.com as the second friendliest in the country.

Moraga

Moraga Mayor Dave Trotter said, "I'm generally supportive of the need for Congress to pass legislation addressing gun violence, so as mayor I am certainly prepared to sign the letter." In the interest of collegiality, he said, after consultations with the town manager and police chief, the item will be places on the Moraga Town Council's agenda for approval at its Jan. 9 meeting.

"First, I believe my fellow Councilmembers may also wish to have an opportunity to express support for the mayors letter or otherwise to express their views on the subject," Trotter wrote in a letter. "I certainly would, if the shoe were on the other foot. Second, putting this item on the Council agenda may also give Moraga residents an opportunity to address the problems of gun violence and the proliferation of semi-automatic weapons in our country in a constructive way, and ultimately provide a positive learning experience for our community."