Keeping Pressure on Senate for an Immediate Vote on Background Checks, Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Announces Visits to Texas and Colorado
Congresswoman Giffords travels to Austin for launch of Texas Gun Owners for Safety, a group advocating for stronger gun laws
Then in Colorado, former Congresswoman Giffords will host a town hall on gun laws and keeping our students safe
August 12, 2019 — With pressure continuing to mount on the Senate to vote on the bipartisan background checks bill, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords announced plans to visit Texas and Colorado in the coming weeks to rally support for stronger gun laws.
“America is in need of new leaders with the courage and commitment to take on a gun violence crisis that has become a worry to every community,” said former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, co-founder of Giffords. “Families should not have to live in fear that today is the day their lives will change because of gunfire. This epidemic has been fed by politicians who worry more about the concerns of a corporate gun lobby than the safety of their constituents. By joining my voice with others in Texas and Colorado, we can keep the pressure on Congress to finally take action to make America safer from gun violence.”
Congresswoman Giffords will travel to Austin on August 20th for the launch of Texas Gun Owners for Safety, a new coalition of hunters, sport shooters, and collectors coming together to advocate for commonsense gun violence prevention laws and promote safety. In Texas, gun owners decided to take action because of their concern over the gun violence crisis. Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that in 2017 the number of people dying from gun violence rose for the third year in a row. Overall, 39,773 Americans died from gunshots in 2017, meaning that nearly 109 people were killed by firearms each day.
Giffords has helped launch similar groups this year in Minnesota and Colorado. These coalitions push for new gun violence prevention laws in their respective states and promote safe and responsible gun ownership.
In Aurora on August 26th, Congresswoman Giffords will be joined by Rep. Jason Crow, Ceasefire Colorado, and March For Our Lives Colorado for a town hall to talk about efforts to strengthen federal gun laws and how commonsense gun laws will keep students safe as the school year begins. The program will also include a panel discussion with local survivors, gun owners, and advocates.
Giffords recently launched ads in Colorado calling out Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) and pressuring him to push for a vote on HR 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 . Senator Gardner’s extreme fealty to the gun lobby makes him an outlier in a state that has repeatedly taken action to strengthen its gun laws in recent years in response to America’s gun violence crisis. The NRA has consistently given Gardner ‘A’ ratings and has spent nearly $4 million to keep him in Washington. The investment has paid off: In 2018, Gardner attempted to block a modest proposal to improve records reporting to background check system that otherwise enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The ad campaign and travel builds on former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ call to action, in which she demanded the Senate come back from August recess to take action on gun laws: “President Donald Trump and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell must call the Senate back from August recess immediately. We cannot afford to wait another day for lawmakers to address this horrific national public safety threat.” In the hours and days that followed, other leaders echoed Gabby’s call for the Senate to return from recess, including many of the Democratic presidential candidates.