Brandon Scott

Mayor of Baltimore, MD

Brandon M. Scott is the 52nd Mayor of Baltimore, working to end gun violence, restore the public’s trust in government and change Baltimore for the better.

Scott was unanimously elected President of the Baltimore City Council by his colleagues in May 2019. Previously, Scott served on the City Council representing Baltimore’s 2nd District. He was first elected in 2011 at the age of 27 and is one of the youngest people ever elected to the Baltimore City Council.

Mayor Scott is a community leader, public servant, and lifelong resident of Baltimore City. A proud Baltimorean, Scott is a graduate of MERVO High School and St. Mary’s College of Maryland. He lives in Baltimore’s Frankford neighborhood in Northeast Baltimore.

A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since 2020, Mayor Scott’s comprehensive approach to gun violence prevention includes deep investment in community-based violence intervention coupled with a strategic focus on stemming the flow of illegal guns into his city.

Tim Kelly

Mayor of Chattanooga, TN

Tim Kelly is the 66th mayor of Chattanooga, a proven leader with a heart for his city. Born in April 1967, Tim is a lifelong resident of Chattanooga, and it will always be his home. Growing up in a family that emphasized servant leadership, Tim still embraces that approach today.

Before taking office, Tim served as chairman of the board for the Chattanooga Football Club, which he co-founded. He also founded, owned or operated a number of other businesses. As a civic leader, Tim has served on boards for the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Chattanooga, the Benwood Foundation, River City Company, Allied Arts (now ArtsBuild), Chattanooga 2.0, and the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, among others.

A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since 2021, Mayor Kelly has made combating gun violence a top priority for his Administration, including investment of American Rescue Plan funds for gun violence prevention.

Quinton Lucas

Mayor of Kansas City, MO

Quinton Lucas is the 55th mayor of Kansas City and is known affectionately as “Mayor Q” to Kansas Citians. He prioritizes making Kansas City’s neighborhoods safer, creating more accessible and affordable housing and public transportation, maintaining efficiency and transparency in governance, and improving basic services.

Born and raised in Kansas City, Mayor Lucas has spent most of his life in the city’s urban core. As a child, his family moved often and even experienced homelessness. Despite these challenges, Quinton remained focused on his schoolwork, earning academic scholarships to high school, college and eventually Cornell Law School before returning home to Kansas City.

Mayor Lucas remains focused on public safety, leading with decisiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic to save lives, as well as addressing the decades-long problem of violent crime in Kansas City. Understanding that the city needs long-term, sustainable solutions to fighting violent crime, Mayor Lucas continues working to decriminalize poverty—including ensuring unpaid parking tickets can no longer lead to incarceration—and build police-community trust through accountability measures. He serves as chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Criminal and Social Justice Committee, and as co-chair of Accelerator for America. Mayor Lucas has been a member of the University of Kansas Law School faculty since 2012, where he teaches local and state government law.

A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since 2019, Mayor Lucas has taken important steps to keep his community safe, including holding gun dealers and manufacturers accountable for supplying illegal guns that have been used in crime in his city, and advancing innovative local ordinances to keep guns out of the hands of minors and domestic abusers.

Shawyn Patterson-Howard

Mayor of Mount Vernon, NY

Shawyn Patterson-Howard is the 28th mayor of Mount Vernon, NY and has been a trailblazer in the not-for-profit and government sectors for the past 25 years. 

As Executive Director for the Mount Vernon, New York Family YMCA from 2004 through 2009, and the first woman and person of color appointed President and Chief Executive Officer for the Yonkers Family YMCA in New York, Shawyn focused on programs that highlight “Youth Development, Healthy Living, and Social Responsibility.” 

Mayor Patterson-Howard was elected the first female mayor in the history of the City of Mount Vernon, and the first woman of color elected mayor in Westchester County. Her focus has been on strengthening the local community and using her relationships on the city, county, state and federal levels to bolster Mount Vernon and restore trust in the city’s leadership.

Mayor Patterson-Howard is an MVHS alum and esteemed graduate of Howard University School of Social Work, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Hunter College where she earned a Master’s in Public Administration and Urban/Community Development.

A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since 2020, Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard served as an active Moms Demand Action Volunteer and community leader before running for office, including running community-based violence intervention programs, and serves as the President of the African American Mayors Association and lead on their public safety committee.

Eric Adams

Mayor of New York City, NY

Eric Adams is the 110th mayor of the City of New York, where he is leading the fight to bring back New York City’s economy, reduce inequality, improve public safety, and build a stronger, healthier city that delivers for all New Yorkers.

Before becoming mayor, Mayor Adams served the people of New York City as a New York Police Department officer, New York State Senator and Brooklyn Borough President, where he has given voice to a diverse coalition of working families in all five boroughs.

A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since 2022, Mayor Adams has made addressing gun violence a top priority for his administration. He has met with survivors of gun violence, and released a plan, the “Blueprint to End Gun Violence in New York City”, in his first month in office. As a State Senator, Mayor Adams was a leader in expanding violence prevention and intervention programming throughout New York.

Regina Romero

Mayor of Tucson, AZ

Regina Romero is the 41st Mayor of Tucson, and has proven herself to be a champion for issues such gun violence, climate change, affordable housing, infrastructure investment, immigrant and workers rights’, and access to a high-quality education. 

 In 2007, Regina became the first woman to represent Tucson’s Ward 1 on the Tucson City Council. While on the Council, Regina helped lift Tucson out of the Great Recession to its most prosperous decade in recent history, helping spur the creation of thousands of high-wage, long-term jobs. 

In November, 2019 Regina was elected Tucson Mayor, becoming the first woman and first Latina Mayor of Tucson, as well as the only Latina Mayor in the 50 largest U.S. cities. Regina is the proud mother of two bi-lingual, bi-cultural and bi-adorable children, Emiliano and Luciana, and has been married to Ruben Reyes for 15 years.

Raised by immigrant farm-workers in Somerton, Arizona, Mayor Romero is the youngest of six children and began breaking barriers early on as the first member of her family to vote and the first to graduate from college. She is a proud graduate of the University of Arizona and holds a post-graduate certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

 A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since 2020, Mayor Romero’s first official press conference was to announce her commitment to ending gun violence and joining the MAIG coalition. She has spearheaded a new Community Safety, Health, and Wellness Program to address the root causes of crime and reduce gun violence.

Tishaura Jones

Mayor of St. Louis, MO

Tishaura Jones is the 47th mayor of St. Louis, MO and became the first Black female mayor in the City’s history on April 20th, 2021.

Transparency, Integrity, and Service define who she is and how she did it. Since 2012, Tishaura O. Jones has helped the City of St. Louis earn and save over $30 million and counting.

Mayor Jones has a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Hampton University and a Master’s degree in Health Administration from the Saint Louis University School of Public Health. A graduate of the Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, she has served as Vice President of Public Finance for Blaylock Robert Van, LLC, an investment banking firm, as well as adjunct faculty at the Anheuser-Busch School of Business at Harris-Stowe State University.

Mayor Jones’ volunteer service is as notable as her robust career accomplishments. A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., her dedication to public service has earned her numerous accolades including awards from the St. Louis Coalition for Human Rights, the RCGA, and the Lupus Foundation of America. From financial empowerment to the modernizing of services, Jones has helped make city government easier to navigate, easier to participate in, and easier to understand.

A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since her election in 2021, Mayor Jones led the way nationwide by being one of the first mayors in the country to announce her intention to use American Rescue Plan funding to address local gun violence. She has been outspoken about dangerous state laws, like the Second Amendment Preservation Act, that limit the ability of cities like St. Louis to fight gun crime. Mayor Jones understands that to make our city safer, we need a holistic approach to improving public safety by addressing root causes of crime such as poverty, housing instability, and the like. This includes ensuring our city deploys tools, such as community violence intervention programs and social workers, to help police officers focus on their main job: Preventing violent crime.

Jane Castor

Mayor of Tampa, FL

Jane Castor is the 59th Mayor of the City of Tampa. Born and raised in Tampa, Jane has spent a lifetime in service to the community, first as a police officer, then as Tampa’s first female Chief of Police.

Jane spent 31 years with the Tampa Police Department, serving in nearly every capacity and in nearly every neighborhood of the city. In October of 2009, Castor became Tampa’s first female Chief of Police, serving for six years in that role. During her time as a senior staff member, Castor worked to reduce major crimes 70% citywide.

Community outreach was a cornerstone of her career. During her time as a beat-cop working night shifts, Jane knew the families, business owners, and community leaders in her neighborhood and, as chief, she expected every officer to do the same. Under her watch, the ‘golden rule’ was that “everyone was treated with dignity and respect”. She also brought an added focus that to be successful, the police department had to be immersed in the community as a partner.

Mayor Castor graduated from Chamberlain High School and attended the University of Tampa on an athletic scholarship. She continues to be very active in the community including participation on the Gracepoint Mental Health and Wellness Board of Directors, RISE Tampa Police Foundation Founder and Board Chair, and she is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and a Police Foundation Fellow.

A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since 2019, Mayor Castor has advocated for stronger background checks at the federal level. Her experience as both a mayor and a former police chief has made her a nationally recognized leader in understanding the intersection of law enforcement approaches and community programs to address gun violence.

Michael Tubbs

Former Mayor of Stockton, CA

Michael Tubbs served as the 79th mayor of the City of Stockton, California. Upon taking office in January 2017, Michael Tubbs became both Stockton’s youngest mayor and the city’s first African-American mayor. Michael Tubbs is also the youngest mayor in the history of the country representing a city with a population of over 100,000 residents.

Mayor Michael Tubbs has secured over $20 million in philanthropic capital to launch the Stockton Scholars, a place-based scholarship that aims to triple the number of Stockton students entering and graduating from college. Mayor Tubbs also brought Advance Peace to Stockton, a data-driven program that works to reduce gun violence in communities. Additionally, with an innovative public-private partnership supported by a $1,000,000 seed grant from the Economic Security Project, Tubbs launched the nation’s first municipal level basic income pilot, the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration.

Mayor Tubbs graduated in 2012 from Stanford University with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree with honors. Tubbs has been a college course instructor for Aspire Public Schools and a Fellow at the Stanford Institute of Design and the Emerson Collective. Michael is a Stockton native and product of Stockton public schools.

A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since 2019, Mayor Tubbs has been a national leader in discussing the underlying issues that impact gun violence in cities, and brought new and innovative gun violence prevention models to his city.

Michael Bloomberg

Founding Chair

Mike Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and three-term mayor of New York City whose innovations in business, government, and philanthropy have made him a pioneering leader on critical issues facing America and the world. He has launched major efforts to save and improve lives, including America’s largest campaigns to prevent gun violence and fight the climate crisis, and global initiatives to tackle pressing public health issues. Bloomberg serves as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, and as WHO Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries.

Elected mayor just weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Bloomberg led New York City’s resurgence. He spearheaded the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan, fought poverty with new programs that became national models, and turned around a failing school system. Bloomberg reduced carbon emissions by 13 percent, increased New Yorkers’ life expectancy by three years, and cut crime by a third while reducing incarceration by nearly 40 percent. Despite the Great Recession, he led the city to record job growth. 

After his third term in City Hall ended in 2013, he resumed leadership of Bloomberg LP, the financial technology and media company he founded in 1981, and expanded his philanthropic work.  Bloomberg LP now employs some 20,000 people, and Bloomberg Philanthropies works to improve lives through its core focus areas: Public Health, Education, the Environment, Government Innovation, the Arts, and the Greenwood Initiative, which aims to accelerate the pace of wealth accumulation in Black communities and address systemic underinvestment in them. He also launched a series of major efforts to help fight the coronavirus in the U.S. and around the world. Bloomberg has given away more than $12.7 billion.

Bloomberg was born in Boston on February 14, 1942, and grew up in a middle-class home in Medford, Massachusetts. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School. Bloomberg is the father of two daughters, Emma and Georgina, and has two grandchildren. He lives in New York City.

Mike Bloomberg co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns alongside then Boston Mayor Tom Menino in 2006, and has long led the fight against illegal guns. As mayor, he launched groundbreaking undercover investigations into gun trafficking networks and the private gun sellers that supply them. He helped pass tougher city and state gun laws, including laws increasing prison sentences for illegal possession, creating a gun offender registry, requiring sellers to conduct inventory checks to prevent guns from being sold illegally, and limiting the frequency of handgun purchases. His enforcement policies focusing on criminal hot spots also helped take guns off the street and drive murders and shootings to record lows.

Former Co-Chairs

Stephen K. Benjamin

Former Mayor of Columbia, SC

Former Co-chair (2022-2023)

Steve Benjamin served as the 44th Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina with a vision of transforming South Carolina’s capital city into a talented, educated & entrepreneurial city of the New South. Prior to his service as mayor, Benjamin served in South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges’ Cabinet as the Chief Executive of South Carolina’s second largest law enforcement agency. Benjamin has served as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and as President of the African American Mayors Association.

During his tenure as mayor, he invested in 21st Century Policing by establishing the Justice for All initiative for greater community engagement, diversity, training and accountability for law enforcement.

Benjamin now serves as the Senior Advisor to the President of the United States and Director of the Office of Public Engagement. In this role, Benjamin will oversee the White House Office of Public Engagement, which works at the local, state, and national levels to ensure community leaders, diverse perspectives, and new voices have the opportunity to inform the work of the President in an inclusive, transparent and responsible way.

A member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns since 2020, Mayor Benjamin initiated city ordinance 2017-109, which banned the attachment of bump stocks and trigger cranks in the City of Columbia, making Columbia the first city in the nation to do so. He is a firm believer in common sense bipartisan leadership and endeavors to implement policies and programming that provide the best course of action for city residents.