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 Some 200 lawmakers from 50 states have joined the alliance,
American State Legislators for Gun Violence Prevention, said the
group's founder, Democratic New York State Assembly member Brian
Kavanagh.
Kavanagh told a news conference the group would focus on state-level
gun control reforms, including the prevention of interstate gun
trafficking and tightening background checks on buyers.
Congress has "failed in its responsibility" to prevent gun violence,
said Jose Rodriguez, a Democratic state senator from Texas.
"We can't continue in the same path that we've been in as a
country," he said.
 President Barack Obama had vowed to curb gun violence after a
20-year-old shooter killed 26 people, mostly children, at a
Connecticut school in 2012. But the Senate rejected his proposal for
wider background checks for gun buyers.
Lawmakers from eight states were at the news conference, including
Virginia, Alabama, New Hampshire and Kansas. The only Republican
lawmaker was state Representative Barbara Bollier from Kansas.
"We are a diverse group from red and blue states, and I am convinced
our collective action will have an impact," said state
Representative Stacey Newman, a Democrat from Missouri.
The group has not released information on its preliminary donors,
but Kavanagh said fundraising efforts were under way. Members are
scheduled to hold their first meeting on Tuesday.
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The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence said last year that
states had led the way in passing gun-control laws. Eight states,
headed by California, enacted major gun reforms since the
Connecticut killings, it said.
Voters in Washington state last month also approved legislation to
expand background checks for gun buyers.
The National Institute for Money in State Politics, in Helena,
Montana, said last year that fewer than 10 percent of gun control
measures introduced in state legislatures after mass shootings in
2012 became law.
Opponents of gun control outspent gun control advocates in the
2011-12 election cycle by about $800,000 to $21,000, institute
figures show. More than half the anti-gun-control contributions were
from the National Rifle Association, the powerful gun rights lobby.
(Editing by Ian Simpson and Dan Grebler)
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