Report
The use of guns to intimidate and threaten voters, elected officials, and peaceful demonstrators poses a serious threat to our democracy.
On July 4, 2022, a 21-year-old white man slaughtered seven people and wounded dozens more when he shot into a crowd in Highland Park, Illinois. A mass shooting on a day commemorating America’s liberation painfully underscores the threat that guns pose to freedom and democracy.
American exceptionalism—the notion that our unique political system has enabled prosperity unparalleled elsewhere in the world—has endured for nearly 250 years, but is now being threatened by a different type of American exceptionalism: an epidemic of gun violence and far-right extremist gun culture unrivaled in peer nations.
The events of January 6, 2021, made all too clear that some Americans are willing to use violence to advance their political objectives. But both before and after the attack on the US Capitol, there has been a proliferation in incidents of people using guns to harass and intimidate others, including terrorizing lawmakers, elected officials, school board members, voters, and election workers.
The Second Amendment does not sanction insurrection or political violence, and when a person carrying a gun uses it to intimidate someone, they are infringing on that person’s First Amendment rights. Gun safety laws are integral to a safe and free democracy that does not elevate the Second Amendment right above all others.
Our Guns & Democracy project highlights the risks and tragic outcomes that can result when rights are not constrained by responsibilities. It also points legislators and the public towards policy solutions that will help strengthen, rather than weaken, our democratic institutions.
policy solutions to armed extremism
For decades, the gun lobby has stoked fear to turn a profit, positioning guns as critical for defense against criminals, immigrants, and a tyrannical government. Meanwhile, they’ve sought to eradicate practically every gun law on the books, arguing that more guns will make us safer. The consequences of this recklessness and greed have included the tragic deaths of nearly 40,000 Americans every year. And now our democracy is under threat.
Commonsense gun laws are not only fully in line with the Constitution—they’re also supported by the vast majority of Americans. Giffords is fighting to help draft, enact, and defend gun safety laws that will bring an end to our nation’s gun violence epidemic and counter the deleterious role that armed extremists are having on our right to free speech, peaceable assembly, and safe and secure elections. Rights come with responsibilities, and understanding that the Second Amendment allows reasonable limits on gun ownership and use will keep us all healthy and safe, while protecting our democracy. Our legislative aims include passing laws that:
- Prohibit firearms at polling places, election offices where votes are counted, at state capitols, and in government buildings and meetings where democracy and governance is at work
- Make it a crime to intimidate and harass election workers
- Ban firearms at protests and demonstrations
- Prohibit private paramilitary groups and ensuring elected civilian oversight of any militia activity
- Pass federal legislation establishing domestic terrorism offices in DHS, DOJ, and FBI and require these agencies to take specified steps to prevent and report on domestic terrorism
- Repeal state firearms preemption laws that prohibit localities from making certain areas of their communities off-limits to guns
Democracy isn’t an end result—it’s an evolving, constant process, and it requires all of our active participation. We must ensure that no American feels threatened by armed extremists when exercising their right to vote, legislate, or peaceably protest. The future of our country depends on it.
MEDIA REQUESTS
Our experts can speak to the full spectrum of gun violence prevention issues. Have a question? Email us at media@giffords.org.
Contact
LItigation
the courts
Explore our work defending lifesaving gun laws in the courts and fighting to debunk the gun lobby’s dangerous arguments about the Second Amendment.
GUNS & DEMOCRACY
RESOURCES
dangerous Rhetoric
Language that incites violence or fans the flames of hate should not be left unchecked, especially when it comes from our elected officials. We must hold those urging violence to account.
READ MOREOnline Threats & Extremism
Our report details how the conversations on social media platforms, often led by gun extremists, didn’t produce Election Day violence but laid the foundation for the assault on the United States Capitol.
READ MOREThe Role of
the NRA
The NRA’s fear-based worldview depicts enemies lurking in every corner. Everyday citizens should not take the law into their own hands, threatening our democracy to protect it from imagined enemies.
READ MORETrump & Armed Protesters
In the year leading up to the Capitol attack, Trump repeatedly fanned the flames of armed protesters masquerading as self-styled “militias,” encouraging law enforcement to turn a blind eye to the havoc these groups could wreak.
READ MOREExtremists in Congress
A Giffords Courage Fellow and member of Colorado Gun Owners for Safety shares why he supports gun safety laws and why gun extremist Congresswoman Lauren Boebert doesn’t speak for Colorado gun owners.
READ MOREProtecting democracy
After the January 6th attack on the Capitol, Giffords called on federal and state officials to act immediately to guarantee that similar insurrectionist violence does not occur and to ensure a peaceful transition of power.
READ MOREMarjorie Taylor-GREENE
Giffords calls for the removal from Congress of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has claimed mass shootings were hoaxes and encouraged violence against elected officials who disagree with her.
READ MOREHate-Fueled Violence
The number of active hate groups and hate crimes is on the rise. In far too many states, individuals convicted of violent hate crime misdemeanors remain eligible to keep and purchase guns.
READ MOREStand Against
HATE
After the tragic hate-inspired mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, that claimed 22 lives in 2019, Giffords and the Latino Victory project teamed up to host ¡YA BASTA! Latinos Rise Against Gun Violence and Hate.
READ MORE
JOIN THE FIGHT
Nearly 40,000 Americans lose their lives to gun violence every year. Giffords Law Center is leading the fight to save lives by championing gun safety policies and holding the gun lobby accountable. Will you join us?