TODAY: Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter to speak at Yale about gun violence

Michael A. Nutter, mayor of the city of Philadelphia and president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, will give a talk at Yale on Monday, April 22 on the epidemic of gun violence that disproportionately affects America’s cities, as well as the solutions that have been proposed at all levels of government to curb it.

The free and public event takes place at 4:30 p.m. in the lecture hall of Sterling Memorial Library, 128 Wall St. entrance.

On Jan. 15, Nutter proposed the adoption of the “Sandy Hook principles,” a code of conduct for corporations to safeguard the health, safety and well-being of American citizens and their communities. Also in January, the Philadelphia mayor testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on the issue of gun violence and ways to reduce it.

Among the measures he recommended are banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, making background checks universal, eliminating gun sale loopholes, and enacting stiffer penalties for straw purchasers of guns. Nutter and the U.S. Conference of Mayors endorsed the gun safety proposals announced by President Obama on Jan. 28, and the mayor continues to be a leading advocate on the national stage for gun safety regulations.

The event is part of the Workshop in Urban Ethnography series led by Professor Elijah Anderson of the Yale Department of Sociology.