Throughout his lifetime in public service, Senator Chris Van Hollen has worked diligently to create a better future for generations of Marylanders. Too often, however, he has been forced to share in the grief of families across his state as they mourn the loss of loved ones to gun violence. Like many in the fight to safeguard our communities, Senator Van Hollen knows that the majority of these gun-related deaths could have been prevented with commonsense reforms—and that time and again, the NRA and the gun lobby have stood in the way of bipartisan measures supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans to address this national crisis. For this reason, fighting for commonsense gun safety legislation has been part of the senator’s mission from the start of his time in office, beginning with his work as a member of the Maryland legislature when he joined forces with a local mom who lost her son in a tragic accidental shooting to pass the nation’s first built-in-trigger lock law. 

In the years since, both as a member of the House of Representatives and as a United States Senator, Van Hollen has continued to be an outspoken and tireless advocate for needed reforms to address America’s gun violence epidemic. In particular, the senator led an effort to increase federal funding for community-oriented policing and alternative 9-1-1 emergency responses for mental health situations—and continues to work to pass universal background checks, to reinstate a federal ban on high-capacity magazines, and to codify measures to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and those who pose a risk to themselves and others. With the gun safety majority in the Senate on the line, we must reelect champions like Senator Van Hollen. We know he will keep up the fight for effective action until all of our children can go to school without fear, and families in Maryland and across our country can stop burying loved ones lost to senseless acts of violence.

We are proud to endorse Chris Van Hollen for the United States Senate.