In the Wake of the Mass Shooting at Santa Fe High School, Texas Voters Elect Candidates Committed to Fighting for Gun Safety
Giffords Endorsed Candidates Move on to General Election Races
May 22, 2018 – As Texas continues to grapple with the mass shooting at Sante Fe High School, Giffords , the gun safety organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly, congratulated gun safety champions on primary wins in the state. As part of Giffords #VoteCourage campaign, the group is working to elect leaders with the courage to fight for safer gun laws. Giffords-backed candidates who were victorious include: Sheriff Lupe Valdez for Texas Governor, Gina Ortiz Jones for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, and Colin Allred for Texas’ 32nd Congressional District.
Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, co-founder of Giffords:
“In the past week, we have once again watched students stand before cameras to talk about the horror that unfolded at their school. The candidates who won tonight have joined me to declare: we will not stand for this any longer.
“The leaders we elect to represent us should play an important role in combating gun violence, but for too long, too many politicians in Texas were part of the status quo that has allowed gun violence to play out in community after community without demanding solutions. That’s why it’s now time to elect candidates like Lupe Valdez, Gina Ortiz Jones and Colin Allred, who are committed to fighting for effective gun laws that will protect Texas families from senseless gun violence. We must act, so our students don’t have to describe to a reporter what it’s like to experience a school shooting.”
From 2014 to 2016, at least 3,297 Texans were murdered with a gun, including more than 400 children and teens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during those years the state’s gun murder rate spiked by 23 percent. In response to the latest shooting, Giffords released a policy memo directed at Governor Greg Abbott with solutions to address the gun violence problem.
Sheriff Lupe Valdez: As Sheriff, Valdez has first-hand experience dealing with the implications of gun violence. That’s why she joined the Giffords Law Enforcement Coalition , where she has been a vocal advocate for meaningful changes to address the gun violence epidemic in our country. If elected as Texas’ next governor, she has vowed to close loopholes that allow convicted stalkers and domestic abusers from legally purchasing guns.
Gina Ortiz Jones : Gina Ortiz Jones is a U.S. Air Force veteran with a background in national security and defense, having served as an intelligence officer in Iraq. She supports commonsense laws aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals that endanger our community.
Collin Allred : Colin Allred is a Dallas civil rights lawyer and former NFL player who served under Julian Castro at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Allred has experience serving in both the Obama White House and the U.S. Attorney’s office and has been vocal on gun issues, criticizing Congress for failing to pass fundamental gun safety measures such as universal background checks.
Giffords has also endorsed Veronica Escobar in the Texas 16th Congressional District, as well as Sylvia Garcia in the Texas 29th Congressional District. Neither faced a primary runoff.
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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