Long Beach is a big city of almost half a million, and like I’ve said before, roughly the same size as Atlanta, Georgia. I understand that there is going to be crime and violence by some in any large community - but any loss of life is painful and disturbing.

As Mayor, each loss hits you hard - but pales in comparison to the loss felt by the families and those affected. Here’s some stats that everyone should know. In the early 1990’s Long Beach had over 125 homicides. That was a high. In the early 2000’s we averaged 50.

And over the last decade we have averaged around 30. Each of those lives, regardless of circumstance, had a family and value.

So while the homicide rate continues to decline, and so does overall crime - access to guns has not.

Our LBPD year to year is confiscating more guns. We will confiscate more this year than last, and that trend is not slowing down. More people have access to guns and it’s become a full blown national epidemic.

This cannot continue and our public safety personnel are working harder than ever. Congress must act. The Administration must act.

We need universal background checks, stricter licensing, ammunition limits, mental heath support, and so much more.

We should be tired of being held hostage by the gun lobby. We need to do better for our kids and youth.

And I recognize that gun reform alone isn’t the answer. Poverty, mental heath, education access and much more play enormous roles, including here in Long Beach.

We all need to do better - cities, the state, and at the federal level.

But we need national action on guns and we need it now.