“A recent Washington Post poll found that expanded background checks are supported by nine in 10 Americans, including 87 percent of Republicans.”

Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) released a PSA video featuring 30 mayors — including Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider — demanding that Congress take immediate action to prevent gun violence and pass common-sense gun legislation.

This PSA already has attracted 370,000 views and is airing on television in selected states. MAIG’s Demand Action campaign will bring 900 mayors and their communities across the country together this Thursday, March 28, in a National Day of Action.

At 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Del la Guerra Plaza, Schneider and the Coalition Against Gun Violence will hold a news conference announcing MAIG’s campaign, demanding that Congress take immediate action to prevent gun violence by requiring background checks for all gun sales, removing military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines from our streets, and making gun trafficking a federal crime.

Supporters will gather at 5:15 p.m. wearing red and black for the news conference at 5:30 p.m., followed by a series of community photo-ops for local and social media.

Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider is one of 30 mayors featured in a PSA video from Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Supporters of the Coalition Against Gun Violence will take part in this National Day of Action with a community-wide photo-op and shout out in support of Schneider’s participation as a vocal national member in the MAIG’s Demand Action campaign to support gun violence prevention legislation.

The CAGV invites the community to join in and bring signs that demand Congress take action: Protect Children, Not Guns; Gun Deaths Are Bipartisan; Universal Background Checks Save Lives; 90% of Americans Support Background Checks; Every Day 8 Children are Shot Dead; and Demand Action to End Gun Violence.

This National Day will call attention to the fact that 98.4 percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a gun dealer, proving that background checks for private gun sales are fast and convenient, and that 92 percent of Americans also support universal background checks.

Click here for more information or to contact the Coalition Against Gun Violence.

— Toni Wellen is a Carpinteria resident and a practicing marriage family therapist since 1985 who specializes in hypnotherapy. She is chair and co-founder, along with Ilene Pritikin, of the Coalition Against Gun Violence, a Santa Barbara County nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition with more than 40 partner organizations since 1994.