#Westport, Conn. – First Selectman Jim Marpe made the following statement today after he announced that he signed the Statement of Principles supporting Mayors Against Illegal Guns:

The Mayors Against Illegal Guns Statement of Principles was established in 2006. Nearly five years ago, the senseless murder of 26 students and teachers at nearby Sandy Hook in Newtown caused all of us to react to the growing threat of gun violence and illegal guns. Shortly after that, in January, 2013, Westport’s RTM passed a sense of the meeting resolution following the outline of the Mayors Statement of Principles.

During the past year, I have been working with Police Chief Foti Koskinas to address the challenges that face our police force – the reactions to the situation in Ferguson, MO and similar situations; the targeted shootings of police officers in Dallas, TX; the ongoing and increasingly random incidents of mass-shootings such as that which occurred one year ago at Pulse in Orlando, to name only a few.

In March, during the March for Democracy event, I was reminded that the Statement of Principles still existed and that I still had the opportunity to sign the pledge on behalf of the Town of Westport. In early May, Deputy Police Chief Arciola and I attended the Connecticut Against Gun Violence Annual Benefit luncheon, which helped bring issues of illegal guns into even clearer focus. Further discussions with Chief Koskinas regarding the challenges Westport faces because of illegal firearms, along with a discussion just last week with fellow area First Selectmen who had signed the pledge, convinced me with more certainty that these are a set of principles that I must support.  Therefore, effective June 12, on behalf of the Town of Westport, I signed the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Statement of Principles.

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