Giffords PAC Endorses Pat Ryan for the US House of Representatives

Washington DC — Today, Giffords PAC, the gun safety organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, announced its endorsement of Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan in the special election for the US House of Representatives in New York’s 19th District.

“As an experienced combat veteran, County Executive Pat Ryan knows how deadly firearms can be. We need his practical, measured voice in Congress now more than ever—especially when so much hinges on the outcome of this special election. The current gun safety majority in the House of Representatives is at its slimmest margins in years, and the difference between commonsense reforms passing and failing often comes down to just a handful of votes. 

“Throughout his tenure as county executive, Pat Ryan has helped implement some of the strongest gun laws on the books at the state and local levels. With County Executive Ryan in Congress, New Yorkers can rest easier knowing that their representative will never back down from the fight to save lives or bend to the corrupt whims of the gun lobby. County Executive Ryan will be a champion for needed federal reforms in Washington DC. We are proud to endorse him today.”

“We are facing a gun violence epidemic. As a combat veteran and as a member of Congress, I will take this issue head-on by insisting on a comprehensive approach. We have to get weapons of war out of our communities by banning assault weapons. We must also institute universal background checks, ban bump stocks and high-capacity magazines, prevent straw purchases, close gun-show loopholes, and institute red flag laws and no-buy lists for domestic abusers and suspected terrorists. Americans universally support these measures and they deserve representatives with the backbone to take on the gun lobby and deliver actual results.”

Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan is fifth-generation New York native, a local business owner, and a proud West Point graduate. In the military, he swore an oath to support and defend the constitution and to protect the American people—and in Congress, he will continue to honor it by keeping the residents of New York’s 19th District safe from senseless gun violence. 

As a combat veteran, County Executive Ryan firmly believes that the weapons of war he used in Iraq have no place in schools or houses of worship—and in Washington DC, he will work diligently to get dangerous firearms off the streets. Ryan is no stranger to supporting and defending commonsense gun safety laws: in 2019, he led a countywide coordinated effort between law enforcement, local government, and educators to implement New York’s extreme risk law, and we know he will fight to ensure that similar protections are implemented at the federal level. After the Supreme Court’s ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen invalidated New York’s concealed carry law earlier this year, he brought the dangerous ramifications of this ruling to the forefront of his campaign. If elected, County Executive Ryan will combat this kind of harmful judicial overreach by working to expand background checks to all gun sales and making sure that our communities fund lifesaving community violence intervention programs. 

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