Mayor Calls For 'Common-Sense Gun Reform'

At a Thursday afternoon rally at Pleasant Hill City Hall, Mayor Michael Harris joined a "day of action" with a mayors group advocating "common-sense gun reform" and other Bay Area advocacy groups.

Harris said he did this as an individual, not as mayor. It is part of his membership in MAIG (Mayors Against Illegal Guns), he said. The mayors are asking Congress to close loopholes in background checks for those buying firearms. In the U.S., 6.6 million guns were transferred without a criminal background check in 2012 — 40 percent of all transactions, Harris said, citing statistics from MAIG.

Dozens were at Pleasant Hill City Hall. "The power of coalition-building is just amazing," said Sue Hamill, a Walnut Creek leader with Organizing For Action, in a telephone interview after the rally.

Harris said he was galvanized by the mass shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14. Beyond that, the mayor said, "I've known victims of gun violence, unfortunately, and seen the pain and heartbreak of their loved ones. I've seen it up close and personal."

"We've got to get Congress to recognize the fact that this is not a partisan issue," he said, and that there's widespread support for reform.

Also Thursday were rallies in Palo Alto and at U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office in San Francisco, Bay City News Service reported. Activists have credited Feinstein for including an assault weapons ban in Senate Democrats' proposed gun control package.