Midwest Members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Law Enforcement Gather in Cleveland for Major Summit on Gun Violence Prevention

 Hosted by Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, City Leader Participants Include Former ATF Director Steve Dettelbach, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, Chicago Deputy Mayor Garien Gatewood, and More

Summit Brings Leaders Together to Share Strategies on Combating Gun Violence in Their Communities With a Focus on How Cities Can Lead in Wake of New Federal Landscape 

CLEVELAND – Today, members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), a joint program of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund and Everytown for Gun Safety, united for a major summit to share strategies for combating gun violence on a local level. Leaders from nearly two dozen cities across the Midwest came together to share ideas and explore how cities can hold the gun industry accountable while implementing proven violence prevention strategies. The summit, hosted by Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, included participation and panels from former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) director Steve Dettelbach, Kansas City Mayor and MAIG Co-Chair Quinton Lucas, U.S. Representative Shontel Brown, Chicago Deputy Mayor Garien Gatewood, and many more.

“Mayors have long been on the frontlines of America’s gun violence crisis, so it’s no surprise they’re also at the forefront of developing common-sense ways to keep guns away from criminals,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Mayors played a central role in driving crime down to a near 50-year low, and they won’t stop fighting until every neighborhood in their city is safe.”

“We’re proud to welcome mayors and public safety leaders from across the Midwest to Cleveland – because when it comes to stopping illegal guns and saving lives, local leadership matters more than ever,” said Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb, Co-Chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. “This summit is about collaboration, innovation, and sending a clear message: our communities deserve action.”

“The shifting federal landscape makes it clearer than ever that mayors are critical in the fight against gun violence,” said Kansas City Mayor Quinon Lucas, Co-Chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. “Untraceable ghost guns and illegal straw purchases are fueling the gun violence crisis across the U.S. With the support of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Midwestern mayors like myself are working tirelessly to implement innovative solutions that protect our residents and ensure our cities are safer for everyone. At the same time, we are committed to holding individuals and companies – whether gun manufacturers, dealers, or others – accountable for their contribution to gun violence in our communities.”

“I’m pleased to join Mayor Bibb in welcoming local leaders from across the Midwest in this collective pursuit of public safety,” said Cleveland Division of Police Chief Dorothy Todd. “The safety of our communities is reliant on strong partnerships between municipal administrations, community partners, and local, state, and federal law enforcement. We have a duty to use all avenues of our power to reduce gun violence on our streets – the lives of those we serve in our communities depend on it.”

In 2006, then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and then-Boston Mayor Thomas Menino founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns as a coalition of 15 mayors. The coalition has since grown to a nonpartisan group of more than 2,000 current and former mayors from the smallest towns to the biggest cities in nearly every state.

Attendees of the summit represented 17 cities, including summit host and MAIG co-chair Cleveland, Ohio Mayor Justin Bibb and co-chair of MAIG, Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Quinton Jones. Other gun sense champion leaders in attendance included former ATF Director Steve Dettlebach, U.S. Representative Shontel Brown (OH -11); Executive Director of Ohio Mayors Alliance Keary McCarthy; Chicago, Illinois Deputy Mayor Garrien Gatewood, and National Institute of Criminal Justice Reform, Director of National Offices of Violence Prevention Network Shantay Jackson. The MAIG members in attendance were Akron, Ohio Mayor Shammas Malik; Cincinnati, Ohio Mayor Aftab Pureval; Cleveland Heights, Ohio Mayor Kahlil Seren; Columbia, Missouri Mayor Barbara Buffaloe; Dayton, Ohio Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr.; Forest Park, Ohio Mayor Aharon Brown; Gary, Indiana Mayor Eddie Melton; Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mayor Cavalier Johnson; Pepper Pike, Ohio Mayor Richard Bain; Richmond Heights, Ohio Mayor Kim Thomas, and Shaker Heights, Ohio Mayor David Weiss. Police leadership, public safety advisers, and Offices of Violence Prevention directors from Ohio cities, including Akron, Cincinnati, Columbus, Richmond Heights, and South Euclid attended. Additional midwest public safety leaders from Indianapolis, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Rockford, Illinois also participated in the summit. 

The Summit comes on the heels of a major Supreme Court victory this week. In a 7-2 ruling, the Justices upheld the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule regulating ghost guns like the deadly firearms they are. Early data indicates a drop in ghost gun recoveries at crime scenes since the ATF’s rule went into effect in 2022, and Mayors have been absolutely critical in keeping these weapons out of the wrong hands – from joining Everytown Law in filing the first case forcing the ATF regulate ghost guns, to holding the industry accountable through major lawsuits, to submitting crime gun data, to affirming support of ATF’s ghost gun rule, and beyond.

Summit Topics Included: 

• Holding the Industry Accountable
  • In a conversation with former ATF Director Steve Dettelbach, Co-Chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, and Chicago Deputy Mayor Garien Gatewood, summit-goers discussed tactics to address the implementation of local violence deterrence measures, innovative industry accountability tactics, and their ongoing commitments to ensuring public safety, among other topics. Several Mayors Against Illegal Guns members, including the mayors of New York, Chicago, Kansas City, and Baltimore, have already taken significant steps towards holding certain members of the gun industry accountable through litigation for their contributions to our gun violence epidemic.

• Navigating the Federal Landscape: Policy and Action in Today’s Political Climate
  • Led by Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11), the panel covered the impacts cities will feel from changes in the federal landscape, including the Department of Justice’s decision to throw out decades of bipartisan precedent through a rule that immediately became effective to put guns back in the hands of domestic abusers and violent criminals. 

• Law Enforcement: Using Crime Gun Data to Drive Policy and Action
  • In a conversation led by Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Bokoch of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and Sergeant Barry Bentley of the Cleveland Division of Police, summit-goers learned about the best practices within Cuyahoga County’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center, one of 57 CGIC sites around the country. Chief of the Cleveland Division of Police Dorthy Todd joined the conversation to provide further context regarding how Cleveland law enforcement works with their federal counterparts at ATF through the county’s CGIC to identify shooters, disrupt criminal activity, and to prevent future violence. 

• The Role of Offices of Violence Prevention (OVP) in Reducing Gun Violence
  • The Summit’s closing panel covered the important role Offices of Gun Violence Prevention (OVP) play in reducing harm. Cities like St. Louis, Columbus, and Indianapolis are investing in violence intervention teams and OVPs as a key tool in reducing violence. OVP helps coordinate the kind of multi-sector response that community violence demands – they allow local officials to better coordinate and implement state and city policies and practices to reduce gun violence, bolster prevention efforts with infrastructure and sustained resources, and to elevate the importance of gun violence in public discourse and within state government. 

About Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 mayors of major American cities to more than 2,000 current and former mayors. The nonpartisan coalition has united mayors around these common goals: advancing enforcement and data collection strategies to prevent gun violence; investing in survivor services and violence intervention programs to address gun violence; and advocating for gun safety legislation at the local, state, and federal level. Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a joint program of the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund and Everytown for Gun Safety.