Senate Judiciary Committee Votes to Confirm B. Todd Jones as Head of ATF
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to confirm the nomination of B. Todd Jones as the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) today. Mayors Against Illegal Guns applauds those Members who voted in support of this highly qualified nominee. A swift confirmation by the full Senate would be the first step towards ensuring this critical agency has the resources and leadership necessary to crack down on illegal gun trafficking and keep our communities safe from gun violence.
"ATF needs a confirmed director and appropriate resources to fight the gun violence that takes 33 more Americans from their families each and every day,"said Mark Glaze, Executive Director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
"For years, dedicated law enforcement professionals have been forced to react to tragedies because they have been denied the tools toprevent them. We need to fight the root causes of gun violence if we intend to seriously reduce it. Thosecauses include a constant flow of guns that arelost and stolen from dealerships and move quicklyinto the hands of gun traffickers and violent criminals.
"Our mayors applaud the Judiciary Committee for its vote of confidence in Acting Director Jonestoday, hope the Senate will move quickly to confirm him, and pledge to work with the Administration and Congress to keep our communities safer."
ATF has been without a permanent director for seven years. B. Todd Jones has the strong credentials and experience to effectively lead this agency. As a veteran and U.S. Attorney under both President Clinton and Obama, Jones has been confirmed by the Senate twice and has a track record of taking on tough cases.
About Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 members to more than 950 mayors from across the country. We have more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters, making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country. The bipartisan coalition, co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has united the nation's mayors around these common goals: protecting communities by holding gun offenders accountable; demanding access to crime gun trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat gun trafficking; and working with legislators to fix weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other dangerous people to get guns. Learn more atwww.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org
SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns
