Continuing the battle against what he called "one of the biggest
threats facing America's cities today" Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone
attended the Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) National Summit in
Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, joining more than 50 of his colleagues
to fight the influx of illegal handguns into cities across the country.

The all day summit joined together mayors from cities like New York, Boston, Dallas, Seattle, and, of course, Yonkers to discuss
initiatives and best practices related to combating the sale, use and
possession of illegal handguns. The summit also included sessions
designed to lobby Congress on important legislation that could
positively impact the illegal handgun trade.

"Illegal handguns account for 80 percent of the shootings in Yonkers
every year, a statistic mirrored in cities all across the nation,"
said Amicone, who was a founding member of the MAIG coalition formed
in April of 2006. "Of course we are aggressively pursuing ways
locally to get these illegal weapons off our streets, but the
national scope of the problem makes it difficult for us to keep pace
with the criminals who endanger our residents. We're here today to
send a clear message to the policy makers here in Washington that we
will stand united in protecting our citizens and our police officers,
and in our opposition to laws that will make it harder to get illegal
handguns off our city streets."

The MAIG Coalition has grown to include 123 mayors nationwide,
features a website and media center (MAIG website), and boasts a
national resource center based out of New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg's office.

Amicone has been involved in every aspect of the MAIG Coalition's
efforts: participating in summits in New York City, Boston, and
Washington, D.C.; recruiting fellow Republican mayors to join MAIG;
recording a video message on the coalition's website (Amicone's video
message); and lobbying members of Congress against harmful
legislation such as the Tiahrt Amendments, which restrict cities' and
states' access to and use of federal gun trace data.

An NRA member and staunch Second Amendment supporter, Amicone has
been insistent on focusing the efforts of MAIG against illegal
handguns in the hands of criminals, not against law abiding
gunowners. "I refuse to accept the 'either-or' premise that you can't
prosecute a campaign against illegal handguns without stomping on
Second Amendment rights. There are 70 million gun owners in this
country, the vast majority of whom lawfully and safely practice
responsible gun ownership, mostly in rural town settings. Our fight
is not with the American citizens who live safely with guns, it is
with those who cause our residents to live in fear of them," Amicone said.