Giffords Endorses Mary Geren for Congress in South Carolina
The endorsement comes as part of Giffords’ #VoteCourage Campaign to elect gun reform candidates nationwide
July 25, 2018 — Giffords, the gun safety organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly, announced its endorsement of Mary Geren in South Carolina’s third congressional district.
“Politicians bought and paid for by the gun lobby to defend the firearms industry can no longer get away with saying thoughts and prayers and then staying silent. They can no longer say acts of violence are acts of nature, beyond our control. They are not, and the American people know it. They’re tired of politicians who claim to represent them failing to take action to keep them safe. This year, voters are demanding leaders with the courage to fight for a nation where gun violence is not a daily problem,” said former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, co-founder of Giffords. “Voters are ready to elect leaders, like Mary Geren, who will always put protecting the safety of our communities first, not themselves, and certainly not the gun lobby. Mary has what it takes to take on the biggest challenges and fight for solutions that will keep our schools, streets, churches and communities safe. Giffords is proud to endorse Mary Geren for Congress, because she’s a leader with the courage stand up to the corporate gun lobby and someone who will never stop working to make South Carolina’s communities safer.”
Mary Geren is a courageous community leader who isn’t afraid to stand up to the gun lobby and entrenched special interests to keep South Carolina families safe. The only member of her family to graduate high school, she is a community college instructor and a member of her local Chamber of Commerce. Mary supports requiring background checks for all gun sales and keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals.
Mary’s opponent, Jeff Duncan, is the gun lobby’s go-to guy in Congress. Duncan introduced and lobbied for a bill that would gut strong gun laws that have kept silencers out of dangerous hands for over 80 years. He did so despite the danger it posed to South Carolina families, in order to satisfy the gun lobby and keep their campaign contributions flowing.
Giffords’ #VoteCourage campaign is 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 targets 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.
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