Giffords Endorses TJ Cox for Congress in California

 The endorsement comes as part of Giffords’ #VoteCourage Campaign to elect gun reform candidates nationwide 

Washington, DC – Giffords, the gun safety organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly, announced its endorsement of TJ Cox, candidate for California’s 21st congressional district. Cox is one of 11 candidates Giffords endorsed today as part of its #VoteCourage campaign to elect gun safetychampions, and joins a growing list of endorsed candidates supported by Giffords in 2018.

An engineer and small businessman, TJ Cox has made stopping gun violence a top issue in his campaign, promising to fight to the gun lobby in Congress and champion the solutions known to save lives, such as passing universal background checks and keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

“We need leaders with the courage to stand up for the millions of Americans calling on Congress to pass stronger, life-saving gun safety laws,” said former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, co-founder of Giffords. “As an engineer, TJ knows that in order to address our country’s gun violence epidemic, we need data-driven, evidence-based solutions that are proven to make our streets, schools, and communities safer. It’s time for us to send someone to Congress who won’t sit on the sidelines as our children are victims of senseless gun violence. It’s time for us to elect TJ to Congress.”

In February, 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.

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