For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Local Officials United in Support of
Gun Safety
Councilmember Sidney Katz to be joined by other Councilmembers, the County Executive and Mayors from Rockville, Gaithersburg and Washington Grove
(Please note new location)
ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 28, 2018—Councilmember Sidney Katz will be joined by Council President Hans Riemer, County Executive Isiah Leggett, Council Vice President Nancy Navarro, Councilmembers Nancy Floreen, Craig Rice, George Leventhal, Marc Elrich and Roger Berliner, Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton, Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman, Washington Grove Mayor Joli McCathran, Police Chief Tom Manger, Sheriff Darren Popkin, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney for Montgomery County Robert Hill and other invited community leaders to remember those who lost their lives at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and to call for federal and state action on gun safety.
The press conference will be held on Friday, March 2 at 4 p.m. at the Council Office Building (100 Maryland Ave., third floor). Community members are also invited to attend this event.
In October 2017 the Council unanimously passed Resolution 18-938, Condemning Acts of Gun Violence, which called on “legislators in the Maryland General Assembly, the United States House of Representatives, and the United States Senate to prevent access to firearms by persons with violent or suicidal behavior, limit the number of firearms that may be purchased per month, prevent conversion of semi-automatic weapons to automatic weapons, limit magazine capacity, ban assault weapons, institute a mandatory waiting period and expand background checks at the federal level and to take any other steps to limit access to firearms for the purpose of taking a human life.”
The resolution can be viewed at: https://tinyurl.com/y99rpcqb
“Communities across the U.S. have been devastated by attacks like the one in Parkland, Florida,” said Councilmember Katz. “It is imperative that all government officials, including local government officials, work together to make our communities as safe as they can be. I’m standing with my Council colleagues, our county executive, our local mayors and our police chief to say enough is enough. In Montgomery County we are fortunate to have responsive representatives. We call on all federal and state representatives to enact stringent gun safety laws now!”
“The surviving victims of gun violence have spoken,” said County Executive Leggett. “The people have spoken. They are demanding we stop the plague of gun violence from affecting another family by introducing common sense gun laws for weapons that are made for war. The nation’s president and the Congress must respond as we here in the County have done.”
“Guns have their place, and it is not in our schools,” said Mayor Newton. “And it is not in the hands of those who seek to sow anguish.”
“This rally is important because it gives our community a chance to demonstrate our solidarity with and goodwill toward the victims of the horrible mass shooting in Parkland, Florida,” said Mayor Ashman. “We’re also coming together to show that there’s real momentum for change. While I personally believe in the Second Amendment and an individual’s right to own and bear arms, there should be reasonable limits, particularly when it comes to assault weapons and other tools that exist solely to increase the lethality of individual firearms. So, I will be calling for us to take a wholesale look at gun regulations as well as our mental health care infrastructure. We all need to put the partisan politics aside and come together to make our communities safer for everyone.”
“We are gathering together to remember the victims of another school mass shooting, this time in Florida,” said Mayor McCathran. “This senseless tragedy is stirring young and old alike to take strong action for stricter gun control. Young people are speaking up and becoming activists, and it is time for lawmakers to act. We all should be supporting those who are doing this work. The arming of more people does not make us safer. If so, we would be the safest nation in the world. Let’s work together to create a nonviolent school environment and our nation a safer country.”
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Release ID: 18-055