NRA Retaliates Against Columbus, Ohio for Regulating Cop-Killer Assault Weapons by Moving 2007 Annual Meeting

NRA's Bullying Tactics Fail as Gun Lobby Retreats in Defeat After Courageous Stand by Columbus City Council and Community Leaders

After the Columbus City Council passed a unanimous city ordinance to regulate assault weapons to protect the safety of law enforcement officers and Columbus families, the National Rifle Association retaliated and announced today it would move its 2007 annual meeting to a new city.

The NRA threatened to move its meeting if Columbus passed the city ordinance, but courageous city lawmakers would not be swayed and chose to protect their community and save lives despite the NRA's bullying tactics.

"The National Rifle Association speaks for a fringe number of extremists and not for any majority. To object to a community's value on life is one of the most arrogant actions the NRA has taken," said Toby Hoover, Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence. "It is astonishing that this extremist organization thinks it can bully and intimidate local lawmakers and municipalities that are working to reduce gun violence and the threat of assault weapons on our streets."

The City of Columbus has been taking numerous steps to reduce deaths and injuries from gun violence on a local level, including regulating semi automatic assault weapons.

"The NRA's actions today are nothing less than an assault on the values of our community. We applaud the city of Columbus for standing up to this extremist organization and hope their courage becomes an example to other communities and lawmakers," said Hoover.

CITY COUNCIL STOPS THE ASSAULT ON COLUMBUS

With this week's city council vote, Columbus joins other Ohio communities in banning assault weapons. Following a series of public hearings, Council members determined the risks to Columbus families increased unacceptably when the U.S. Congress failed to renew the federal law which expired last September.

The Columbus ordinance bans the possession and transfer of assault weapons while continuing to allow the use of the weapons at licensed shooting ranges and in officially sanctioned competitive shooting events. Individuals who lawfully owned and possessed assault weapons before the ordinance's effective date may keep their weapons but have 90 days to register them with local authorities.

The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence (OCAGV) provided support for the ordinance and testified in the public hearings. Toby Hoover, Executive Director of OCAGV, congratulated the City on its progressive action to make Columbus a safer place to live and raise families.

Said Hoover, "Assault weapons are semi-automatic guns that are made to spray fire a high volume of bullets. Assault weapons are not hunting guns. They are people killers and we should never forget that we are talking about people, both victims and survivors. These guns are an assault on us all and we congratulate Columbus for regulating them."

Sue Ann Schiff, Executive Director of Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV), agreed: "Assault weapons are designed to kill humans quickly and efficiently. The Columbus ordinance is directed to military-style weapons designed for rapid spray firing, not to standard sporting firearms."

At the request of the chair of the Columbus Public Safety Committee, Michael Mentel, LCAV testified about assault weapons, and provided the Committee with its comprehensive report, Banning Assault Weapons - A Legal Primer for State and Local Action, which includes a model law. The report provides a legal framework for state and local governments interested in banning assault weapons. LCAV has a special interest in assault weapons: it was founded in 1993 following an attack in San Francisco in which a gunman with two assault weapons shot 14 people, killing nine.

Despite overwhelming public support for its renewal, Congress and the President allowed the 10-year old law regulating assault weapons to expire on September 13th, 2004.