Now What? Stopping Gun Violence in our Communities – Town Hall Meeting

Senator Chris Coons – United States Senator from Delaware

Sen. Chris Coons was elected to the US senate in 2010 representing Delaware. Coons serves on Senate Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Judiciary, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Ethics committees. He is currently the chair of the Ethics committee. He was honored recently for his bipartisan work in the senate with the Legislative Action Award. 

Coons’ work in combatting gun violence most recently included co-sponsoring the Age 21 Act, which raised the federal legal age to purchase assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition from 18 to 21. He also co-sponsored the  Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022, which aimed to require federal law enforcement to frequently asses threats that are posed by violent domestic extremists, and then to make tangible measures to combat them. 

Chris Byrne – The Toy Guy®

A 30-year-plus veteran of the toy industry, “The Toy Guy,” Chris Byrne held major marketing and creative positions in the early part of his career. Since 1988, he has run Byrne Communications, Inc., a consultancy that works in product development, strategic planning, organizational development and marketing. He consults on entertainment and licensing, has written seven books on toys and play, speaks extensively on the role and benefits of play in child development and appears on TV, such as shows like Kelly and Ryan (and other previous co-host variations), talking about toys and play in the U.S. and around the world. He is the author of Toy Time: A Look Back at the Most Beloved Toys of the 1950s to the 1980s, and his book Funny Business, Harnessing the Power of Play to Give Your Business a Competitive Advantage, has been used in a variety of industries to foster innovation. He is the author of the textbook An Introduction to The U.S. Toy Industry: Serious Fun which is used in undergraduate and graduate business programs. 

Bishop R. William Franklin – Assisting Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island

The Rt. Rev. R. William Franklin is Assisting Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. Prior to serving on Long Island, Franklin was the Bishop of Western New York from 2011 to April of 2019, whose Cathedral is housed in Buffalo, and previously served at St. Mark’s Church in Philadelphia and at St. Paul’s Within the Walls in Rome, for five years where he was an Associate Director of the American Academy in Rome and Associate Priest of the Anglican Centre in Rome. Franklin previously served as Dean of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, as a professor at the General Theological Seminary in New York and at St. John’s University in Minnesota. He is an active member of the group Bishops United Against Gun Violence, a network of over 100 Bishops of the Episcopal Church, that advocates for strategies and legislation that will lower the number of people in the United States wounded by guns.

Michelle Guglielmelli – Lead, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America – New York Chapter

Michelle Guglielmelli is a lifelong New Yorker, currently residing on the Upper West Side. She grew up in Queens and is a graduate of both St John’s University and the Teacher’s College at Columbia University. She currently leads a Human Resources department at a media agency.Gugliemelli joined the NYC Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America in late 2016 where she dedicates her volunteer time. She has held various roles within the chapter these last six years. She is currently a member of the NYC Chapter leadership team focusing on the areas of data and membership.