ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando and Tampa's mayors are among the more than 200 city leaders calling for the Senate to return to the Capitol and act on gun safety legislation in the wake of two mass shootings in one weekend.
- 214 mayors call for bipartisan legislation to end gun violence
- Orlando, St. Pete, Tampa mayors among city leaders on letter
- Many mayors are from cities in which mass shootings happened
- READ IT: Letter from 214 mayors to Sens. Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer
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The letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, from the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Thursday.
Spectrum News confirmed that Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is one of the 214 mayors who signed the letter. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman also signed the letter.
"Our nation can no longer wait for our federal government to take the actions necessary to prevent people who should not have access to firearms from being able to purchase them," the mayors say in the letter, which was prompted by the back-to-back mass shootings in Texas and Ohio last weekend that left 31 people dead.
Many of the mayors who signed the letter are from cities and towns where mass shootings have occurred:
- Buddy Dyer, Orlando
- Dee Margo, El Paso, Texas
- Nan Whaley, Dayton, Ohio
- Christine Hunschofsky, Parkland, Florida
- William Peduto, Pittsburgh
- Gavin Buckley, Annapolis, Maryland
"Now more than ever, we need to work across party lines to find real solutions and make meaningful change," Dyer said in an email to Spectrum News.
"On behalf of The United States Conference of Mayors, we urge you to immediately call the Senate back to Washington to take action on bipartisan gun safety legislation," the letter reads. "The tragic events in El Paso and Dayton this weekend are just the latest reminders that our nation can no longer wait for our federal government to take the actions necessary to prevent people who should not have access to firearms from being able to purchase them."
McConnell has resisted pressure to recall Senators from congressional recess.
Republican lawmakers have been working toward more modest gun control measures, including a proposal from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio that would allow friends and family to get authorities to keep guns away from people deemed a threat to themselves or other people. Other senators are considering changes to background checks.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this article.