NEW AD: Days After Shooting at Palmdale High School, Groups Launch Six Figure Ad Buy Calling Out Rep. Steve Knight for Prioritizing Dangerous NRA Agenda Over Keeping Kids Safe
May 17, 2018 – Just days after a shooting at Highland High School in Palmdale, a new ad featuring a student from the school is up on air calling out Rep. Steve Knight (CA-25) for prioritizing the NRA’s dangerous agenda in Congress over keeping kids safe. The ad, “ Stand Up for Us ,” shines a spotlight on Knight’s record backing efforts to weaken gun laws and calls on him stop listening to the NRA.
The ad features Highland High School studentIsabel Pimentel, who saw the shooter open fire at her school. In the ad, Isabel details how frightening it was to hear gunfire. She goes on to call on Knight to reject the NRA and take action to her community safer from gun violence. The six-figure ad buy will run for several weeks in the CA-25 district, which includes Palmdale, Lancaster and Santa Clarita, California.
“I saw the shots fired and I ran for my life. I realized I didn’t say I love you to my mom that morning and that really scared me,” Pimentel says in the ad. “It’s time to call on our representative, Steve Knight, to reject the NRA and support commonsense gun laws.”
Giffords PAC , co-founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly to empower voters with the information they need to elect officials with the courage to fight gun violence, joined with the SoCal Healthcare Coalition to raise awareness around Rep. Knight’s opposition to gun safety laws. Since his election in 2015, Rep. Knight has consistently earned an “A” rating by the NRA and has taken more than $15,000 in campaign contributions from the gun lobby.
Congressman Steve Knight’s legislative record proves that he supports the gun lobby’s priorities, including:
- Supporting Concealed Carry Reciprocity: In December 2017, Knight voted for the Concealed Carry Reciprocity bill , which drastically undermines California’s strong gun laws and makes it easier for dangerous people to carry concealed, loaded guns in public.
- Opposing Extreme Risk Protection Orders: While a member of the California State Senate, Knight voted against a gun violence restraining order , which allows law enforcement officers to petition a court directly for an order to temporarily restrict a person’s access to guns if there is evidence that they are a danger to themselves or others.
- Weakening Laws and Procedures Which Keep Guns out of the Hands of People in Crisis: In February 2017, Knight voted for a measure that weakens the current background check system by revoking a rule requiring the Social Security Administration to report the names of certain beneficiaries with severe mental impairments to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The rule helped to prevent individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others from having access to firearms. In March 2017, Congressman Knight voted for a bill that would make it easier for veterans in crisis to access firearms to access firearms and purge more than 174,000 records from the background check system.
###