Giffords Endorses David Shapiro for Congress in Florida
The endorsement comes as part of Giffords’ #VoteCourage Campaign to elect gun reform candidates nationwide
March 21, 2018 – Giffords, the gun safety organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly, announced its endorsement of David Shapiro, candidate for Florida’s 16th congressional district. Shapiro is one of 13 candidates Giffords endorsed today as part of its #VoteCourage campaign to elect gun safety champions.
Florida has seen several of the highest-profile episodes of gun violence in recent years, beginning with the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012, the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando in 2016, the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting that claimed the lives of five people, and most recently, the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last month.
“Far too many Florida families have mourned the loss of loved ones who were needlessly victimized by acts of gun violence. We need leaders like David Shapiro who are ready to act to change that,” said former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, co-founder of Giffords. “Since he announced his candidacy, David has been a vocal advocate for a meaningful plan that will protect our children from senseless gun violence. Florida deserves leaders in Congress that will take action to ensure our schools, streets, and neighborhoods are safe. That’s why we are so proud to support David for Congress.”
David Shapiro supports commonsense gun safety measures, including background checks that prevent individuals with mental illnesses from accessing guns, raising the legal age for purchasing assault weapons to 21, and closing the gun show loophole.
“It is an honor to have the endorsement of Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly, and the Giffords PAC,” said David Shapiro. “It seems incomprehensible that Congress had not addressed the need for gun safety when so many lives have been lost and so many more are at stake. Everyone who wants to buy a gun should go through a comprehensive background check to ensure they are not a danger to the community or themselves. We must ban assault weapons, designed for a single purpose, to kill a lot of people in a short amount of time. Finally, we must make sure that we close the gun show loopholes so that the laws that are passed cannot be circumvented. When I am elected to Congress this is what I pledge to fight for from day one. We must do better!”
Last month, Giffords launched the #VoteCourage campaign aimed at electing gun safety advocates to Congress and defeating politicians who have historically worked against gun reform, or done nothing at all to prevent gun violence. The political program is targeting incumbents in mostly suburban districts and uses a mixture of TV and digital advertising, on-the-ground organizing, and a voter registration push to create momentum for meaningful progress on gun safety.
The mass shooting at Parkland, Florida crystallized the country’s frustration with the lack of action to pass gun safety laws. Currently, the country is averaging nearly 34,000 deaths from guns every year, and recent polling shows that support for stronger gun laws is at an all-time high.
###
Giffords is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives from gun violence. Led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, Giffords inspires the courage of people from all walks of life to make America safer.