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New GIFFORDS Ads: The Gun Lobby Won’t Help Republicans Win the Base

Washington DC — Today, GIFFORDS, the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, announced new digital and print ads ahead of the Republican debate in Miami. The ad, published today in the Miami Herald, uses Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s failing campaign to show that Republicans can no longer rely on appeasing the gun lobby in attempt to shore up conservative support. DeSantis’s poll numbers have done nothing but fall since he cozied up to NRA lobbyists and signed dangerous permitless carry legislation into law.

Chris Harris, GIFFORDS Vice President of Communications:

“Governor DeSantis learned the hard way that supporting the gun lobby agenda no longer helps win over Republican primary voters. Polling shows that he saw absolutely no political benefit from jamming through the NRA’s top legislative priority. To the contrary, his polling has done nothing but fall since the day he signed his dangerous ‘Anyone with a Gun’ permitless carry bill into law.

“Republican candidates across the country should learn from DeSantis’s missteps. There is far more to be gained by siding with the vast majority of Republicans and Democrats and standing up to the gun lobby. The politics of guns have been turned on their head over the last decade. It’s time for Republican candidates to realize that supporting commonsense gun safety laws isn’t just the right thing to do, but it’s also the politically smart thing to do.”

Earlier this year, GIFFORDS Florida launched a multi-prong ad campaign against DeSantis’s dangerous “Anyone with a Gun” permitless carry bill. GIFFORDS Florida was formed in 2022 as the organization’s first statewide program. 

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