New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and NOPD Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas today issued a statement endorsing President Obama’s proposed measures to deal with gun violence.

The following is the statement released by Mayor Landrieu's office:

"Reducing violent crime and murder and making New Orleans safe is the most important issue facing the city of New Orleans.  President Obama's proposals are a step in the right direction toward combating gun violence in our city and across America.

"I strongly encourage Congress to broaden the focus to restoring the funding for mental health services and local law enforcement.  Federal funding for local law enforcement has been cut by 50 percent since the 1990s in New Orleans alone.

"The vast majority of Americans demand leadership on both sides of this issue. I look forward to common sense reform on the federal level this year."

The following is the statement released by the NOPD:

At a news conference this afternoon, Serpas, who is the Third Vice President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), said that the IACP, which represents more than 21,000 worldwide members, supports the President’s plan because it’s a common sense approach to better protecting children in schools as well as the general public from those among us who have no business carrying and using firearms. 

“This plan announced today would ban military-style assault weapons and high capacity magazines.  These types of weapons are specifically designed to kill mass numbers of people.  I don’t know of any police chief in America who could object to that proposal”, said Superintendent Serpas.

 “The President’s initiative would also get rid of all bullets that are capable of piercing law enforcement officers’ body armor, a critically important issue for police,” Serpas said.   And it would help raise the bar in school safety practices, as well as invest more in the mental health industry.

 “Finally, it would end the freeze on gun violence research, which would enable us- as a nation- to know more about the culture of gun violence, why it perpetuates, and what we can do to curb it.”

 “A recent study by the IACP shows that since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, more than 300,000 Americans have been killed by guns.  New Orleans has a population of 360,000.  These incredibly high numbers put things into perspective, and their proximity should be startling to us all”, Serpas said.