A national organization composed of mayors addressing gun crimes in their cities has named Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly as a co-chair.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, part of the New York-based nonprofit organization Everytown for Gun Safety, announced Tuesday that Kelly would be one of 10 co-chairs nationwide to promote gun control and crack down on gun violence.
"City leaders like Mayor Kelly are on the frontlines of America's gun violence epidemic, but they can't win this fight without help from leaders at all levels of government," Everytown for Gun Safety President John Feinblatt said in a statement.
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Kelly will be co-chair along with mayors from cities such as Baltimore, New York and Kansas City. Each co-chair serves two-year terms.
As co-chairs, the mayors will advocate for and advise on gun reform measures, intervention programs and state and federal legislation.
"Gun violence has devastated far too many families here in Chattanooga and across the country, and we must do more to build safer, stronger communities," Kelly said in a statement. "I'm proud to step up as a new co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns as part of the work we're doing here in Chattanooga to save lives and end the cycle of violence."
The Chattanooga Police Department seized 1,182 illegal firearms in 2021 and 97 illegal firearms in January of this year, police spokesperson Jeremy Eames said in a Wednesday email.
There were 157 shootings last year, 31 of which were fatal. Those do not include justified or accidental shootings.
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There have been five shootings so far this year, one of which was fatal.
As the number of homicides in Chattanooga remained largely unchanged between 2019 and 2021, the number of non-fatal shootings increased more than 57%, from 80 in 2019 to 126 in 2021.
Kelly has been a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which is composed of more than 1,000 current and former mayors, since last year.
The organization was launched in 2006 by former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and former Boston Mayor Tom Menino in response to what they said was Congress' inaction in taking on the National Rifle Association.
In 2013, Moms Demand Action and Mayors Against Illegal Guns together formed Everytown for Gun Safety, which is now the nation's largest gun violence prevention organization.
"It's great to see the next generation of mayors band together and pick up the fight, including Mayor Kelly," Bloomberg said in a statement. "The more that mayors work together - and stand together in state capitols and Congress - the more able our cities will be to stop crime and save lives."
Tuesday's announcement came shortly after the end of the fourth annual National Gun Violence Survivors Week, which takes place between Feb. 1 and Feb. 7.
Last year, Kelly joined cities across the country in proclaiming June 4 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
Contact Logan Hullinger at lhullinger@timesfreepress.com or 814-319-5158. Follow him on Twitter @LoganHullinger.