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On Gun Violence in Iowa: Theresa Greenfield is Clear Choice for U.S. Senate in Race Against Gun Lobby Loyalist Joni Ernst

September 14, 2020

Greenfield is Gun Sense Candidate who will Stand up to the Gun Lobby to Support Common-Sense Gun Laws

Sen. Joni Ernst has Acted as a Gun Lobby Puppet who Opposes Common-Sense Gun Laws Even As Gun Violence gets Worse and Worse in Iowa


In Iowa’s race for U.S. Senate, the choice between Theresa Greenfield and incumbent U.S. Senator Joni Ernst is clear on gun safety. Sen. Ernst has sided with the gun lobby and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, refusing to support common-sense gun safety laws, including H.R. 8––a bipartisan and immensely popular bill to require background checks on all gun sales.

On average, nearly 40,000 people are killed by guns in the U.S. every year and in Iowa the rate of gun deaths has increased more than double the rate nationwide over the same period of time, but instead of listening to Iowans and passing popular, common-sense measures that would reduce gun violence, Joni Ernst continues to stand with the gun lobby. Greenfield, on the other hand, is endorsed by Everytown for Gun Safety and received the Moms Demand Action Candidate distinction for her commitment to gun safety. She credits her farm upbringing for her support of responsible gun ownership. 

Greenfield supports: 

  • Background checks on all gun sales 
  • Extreme risk legislation to help families and law enforcement prevent mass shootings and gun suicide

Senator Joni Ernst opposes common-sense gun legislation and has benefited from more than $3 million in financial support from the gun lobby.

Sen. Ernst opposes:

  • Background checks on all gun sales including those sold online
  • Extreme risk legislation to help families and law enforcement prevent mass shootings and gun suicide

Everytown Victory Fund recently launched $2.2 million in TV ads slamming Ernst for taking money from the gun lobby and other special interests while blocking common-sense gun safety measures and voting against the interests of their constituents time after time. 

In February, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund conducted polling in Iowa, which found:

  • Voters in Iowa support stronger gun laws by a 3:1 margin 
  • 75% of voters consider a candidate’s position on guns “very important” to their vote in 2020
  • A majority of voters, including 70% of Republican women, say they would never vote for a candidate who doesn’t support background checks on all gun sales, and opposing background checks on all gun sales was the most disqualifying candidate position among suburban women by a six-point margin
  • 75% of voters surveyed support enacting a red flag law, also known as an extreme risk law, including 93% of suburban women and 91% of undecided voters 

National polling released in June found that the intensity of Americans’ support for common-sense gun safety measures had surged during the coronavirus pandemic, with a significant majority of Americans viewing background checks on all gun sales and disarming domestic abusers “more important” now than before the pandemic began.  

Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Victory Fund plan to spend $60 million on the 2020 elections — double what they spent during the 2018 elections, and more than any gun safety opponent, including the NRA, reported spending on the 2016 elections.

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