WASHINGTON – Everytown for Gun Safety released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence’s speeches today at the annual NRA Convention in Indianapolis.
“The NRA spent $30 million to elect Trump, so it’s no surprise that he traveled to Indianapolis to kiss the ring,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “As he considers his position on gun safety, he would be wise to remember that a growing majority of Americans are demanding stronger gun laws — and as we saw in the midterms, they’re bringing those demands into the voting booth.”
“After Parkland, President Trump said he’d support common-sense gun safety laws, but instead, his administration has simply recycled tired gun lobby rhetoric in attempt to juice slumping gun sales,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “The majority of Americans, including the majority of Republicans and gun owners, support common-sense gun laws. It’s infuriating to watch the President and Vice President continue to prioritize the gun lobby’s profits over the safety of the American people.”
Despite the NRA’s investment in Donald Trump’s campaign for president, the NRA’s top legislative priorities — concealed carry reciprocity and deregulation of silencers — have not become law. In fact, President Trump’s Justice Department prohibition of the production, sale and possession of bump stocks went into effect in March, a move the NRA opposed.
Additionally, the Trump administration has expressed support for Red Flag laws, which allow families and law enforcement to ask a judge to temporarily suspend a person’s access to guns if there are clear signs that person poses a serious threat to themselves or others, several times. Shortly after the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, President Trump expressed support for the life-saving policy. And testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 15, 2019 in his confirmation hearing, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said: “[Advancing Red Flag laws] is the single most important thing we can do in the gun control area to stop these mass shootings from happening in the first place.”
Tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m., volunteers with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Students Demand Action and survivors of gun violence will hold a Grassroots Day of Action in Indianapolis. More than one hundred Indiana advocates and gun violence survivors from around the state will train new activists and survivors to engage in the fight for gun safety, train students to become organizers and take on the NRA’s dangerous “guns everywhere” agenda that contributes to gun violence that kills 100 Americans every day and injures hundreds more.
