Students Organize Gun Violence Prevention Virtual Roundtable Event with Attorneys General from DE, NJ, NY, and PA

On Thursday, June 3rd, March for Our Lives is hosting a high-level roundtable with the Attorneys General from Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania to discuss gun trafficking, police violence, and the actions that they are taking to address these issues in their states and cooperatively as a region.

“This is a vital discussion because we have seen a spike in gun sales and a corresponding spike in gun violence this past year. Police violence also continues to be a major facet of this gun violence that has remained largely unaddressed,” said Raisa Rubin-Stankiewicz, March for Our Lives New Jersey State Co-Director.

This is a continuation of the prior Attorney General roundtable discussion that was held on Tuesday, April 20th with New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. This time, however, New York Attorney General Letitia James will also be joining the discussion.

The prior roundtable focused on how the Attorneys General addressed the Iron Pipeline, ghost guns, and police use-of-force policies. Here is the recording of the first roundtable discussion: https://www.pscp.tv/MFOLNJ/1vAxRwEOvyVKl and here is the transcription: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZHtAEPjuvF6jbPaMy6Nkqf7yvFZV8cIbRLjjQmrgkWk/edit?usp=sharing

Gun trafficking is a major issue in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country, partially because of the Iron Pipeline, a route in the United States that is used to smuggle guns from Southern states with weaker gun laws into the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions, particularly into states with stronger gun laws. This is a major source of gun violence in the region; for instance, 80% of guns used in crime in New Jersey and 74% of guns used in crime in New York come from out of state.

“A lot of people are unaware of the role that Attorneys General play in enforcing gun laws and in setting an agenda for police reform and criminal justice in their states. We are so honored to be joined by the Attorneys General in order to highlight this work,” said Elena Perez, Regional Organizing Director for March for Our Lives. “Particularly since there has been a lot of inaction around gun violence at the federal level, much of gun violence prevention policy has been left to state level government. This roundtable gives an opportunity to examine how these efforts are conducted by Attorneys General at a state or regional level, as well as the limitations of addressing gun violence and police violence this way.”

The event will also be live-streamed to the March for Our Lives New Jersey Twitter account, as well as the March for Our Lives Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey Facebook pages.

Some partnering organizations for this roundtable include Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence, CeasefireNJ, Brady New Jersey, UU FaithAction New Jersey, and more.

WHAT: Attorneys General Gun Violence Prevention Student Roundtable

WHEN: Thursday, June 3rd, 5:00-6:30 PM ET

WHERE: Zoom

WHO: Attorney General of Delaware Kathy Jennings

Attorney General of New Jersey Gurbir Grewal

Attorney General of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro

Attorney General of New York Letitia James

March For Our Lives