In his role as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Mayor Greg Nickels issued a statement this week denouncing Congress for slipping on gun control laws.

Says Nickels:

"This year, mayors' efforts to provide for the safety of their residents are actually losing ground in the face of an all-out, across-the-board assault on gun safety on Capitol Hill. Currently, the gun lobby is not just opposing common sense laws, it is pushing members of Congress to offer amendments to legislation that will make it easier for criminals and others who shouldn't have access to guns to acquire them and use them."

[See Nickels' statement for the list of amendments he opposes, including one that would override state law by giving people who are allowed to carry concealed weapons in their home state the right to carry them in another state even if local laws would prohibit it.]

Nickels wouldn't have had a leg to stand on a year ago—Seattle had consistently flopped in its lobbying efforts to get gun control legislation passed in Olympia.

However, this year—and with the help of Seattle Reps. Reuven Carlyle, Bob Hasegawa, Sharon Nelson, Jamie Pedersen, and Scott White (and sponsor Ross Hunter)—the legislature passed a gun rule the city has been pushing for a few  years: Keeping guns out of the hands of people with mental problems.

UPDATE: The pro-concealed weapon amendment noted above just got shot down by the Senate . (Nickels, president of the national mayor's association which opposed the amendment, didn't get the nod in the national story , though. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg did.)

The measure needed 60 votes to pass. But gun rights supporters only got to 58.

Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray voted Nay .