Everytown For Gun Safety Action Fund Endorses Jaime Harrison For U.S. Senate in South Carolina

Jaime Harrison Has Made Gun Safety a Priority; in the U.S. Senate He’ll Fight for Common-Sense Gun Safety Laws

NEW YORK – Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund endorsed Jaime Harrison for U.S. Senate in South Carolina, lauding his commitment to gun safety. Earlier this year, Harrison received the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate Distinction, a prerequisite for being considered for endorsement. 

Harrison has made gun safety a top priority for his campaign because he, like too many Americans today, has suffered the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence. In 2015, when a white supremacist opened fire on the congregation of Charleston’s Mother Emanuel AME Church, Harrison lost his friend, Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was the church’s pastor. As a U.S. Senator, Harrison has pledged to take on the gun lobby and fight for common-sense gun safety laws that will protect communities in South Carolina and around the country. 

Harrison’s opponent, Sen. Lindsey Graham, has consistently toed the NRA line against popular gun safety measures that overwhelming majorities of Americans support. In Washington, Sen. Graham has done the gun lobby’s bidding and made communities in South Carolina less safe.    

“Jamie Harrison knows the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence, and he is committed to transforming that pain into action as South Carolina’s newest Senator,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Everytown is proud to support Harrison’s campaign to unseat Lindsay Graham, who has failed to deliver on gun safety for South Carolinians.”

“For too long, South Carolinians have been represented in the U.S. Senate by politicians beholden to Mitch McConnell and the gun lobby,” said Jackie Shelley, volunteer with the South Carolina chapter of Moms Demand Action. “It’s time for a changing of the guard, and Jaime Harrison is the right candidate for the job.” 

Polling released last month demonstrates the surging intensity of Americans’ support for common-sense gun safety measures 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 at least $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.