Walsh to attend White House convening on gun violence

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh on Tuesday will travel to the nation's capital at the invitation of President Obama to address the White House State and Local Gun Violence Prevention Convening on steps communities can take to reduce gun violence and domestic violence. Walsh will begin Tuesday in Washington D.C. at the Center for American Progress for a briefing on Obama's executive actions to address gun violence, and in the afternoon will address Vice President Joe Biden and officials from all 50 states on "state and local actions on preventing gun violence and domestic violence," the mayor's office announced Monday.

"I am honored to accept the White House's invitation to discuss concrete examples of how mayors can address the gun violence that plagues too many of our communities," Walsh said in a statement. "Gun violence is one of the defining challenges of our time. We know that in order to get illegal guns off of streets and out of the wrong hands, we must work with our regional and national partners on commonsense strategies that work."

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans will join Walsh for the day in D.C., according to City Hall. Since becoming mayor in 2014, Walsh has convened four gun-related summits with municipal officials and law enforcement officers from nearly 80 cities and towns across New England to "share strategies to reduce gun violence and reduce trafficking of illegal firearms."

Earlier this year, Obama announced executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence, including a push for more research and implementation of smart gun trigger lock technology, which uses fingerprint recognition or other biometric information to prevent anyone other than the lawful gun owner from firing the weapon.

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