Everytown Launching Gun Sense Candidate Program for Candidates Running for Congress, Statewide Offices and State Legislature — During 2018 Inaugural Program, Over 3,000 Candidates Received the Distinction
Nineteen Democratic Presidential Candidates, Including Every Major Candidate Still in the Race, Have Sought and Received the 2020 Presidential Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate Distinction
NEW YORK — Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund (“Everytown for Gun Safety”) and Moms Demand Action, its grassroots volunteer network, launched the process for candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General and State Legislature to receive its 2020 Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate distinction. Everytown for Gun Safety also awarded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) with its first-ever “Gun Sense Lawmaker of the Year” award, for 2020, in recognition of her unparalleled leadership on gun safety at the federal level. Along with the award, Everytown for Gun Safety is endorsing Speaker Pelosi’s reelection to Congress.
“Gun safety is going to be a defining issue this campaign season, and we are going to make it crystal clear which candidates deserve the support of millions of gun safety voters,” said Chris Carr, political director for Everytown for Gun Safety. “We expect thousands of candidates from both political parties to seek the distinction this year — more than ever before. This election couldn’t be more important, and that’s why Everytown for Gun Safety and the Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund have committed to spending at least $60 million to support Gun Sense Candidates in 2020 and mobilize our millions of grassroots supporters to do whatever it takes to elect these leaders.”
“Speaker Pelosi is a hero to the gun safety movement,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety. “She oversaw the passage of the first major federal gun safety legislation in two decades in the House of Representatives, and has been a vocal supporter of Moms Demand Action for its entire existence. She’s an inspiration to our volunteers every day, and we’re proud to name her Gun Sense Lawmaker of the Year, and endorse her as she seeks reelection.”
The Gun Sense Candidate distinction is a signal to our nearly six million supporters, volunteers and voters across the country that a candidate stands up for gun violence prevention.
In order to receive the Gun Sense Candidate distinction, candidates must complete a questionnaire, which focuses on common-sense gun safety policies, to satisfaction. Candidate’s past votes on gun safety are also considered. Candidates who demonstrate that they will govern with gun safety in mind are given the Gun Sense Candidate distinction. Receiving the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate distinction is a prerequisite for being considered for endorsement.
In its inaugural year of 2018, the program recognized more than 3,000 candidates — including Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — in 48 states who were running for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and State Legislature.
The recipient of the 2020 “Gun Sense Champion of the Year” award, Speaker Pelosi, led U.S. House-passage of meaningful gun safety legislation for the first time in decades. Gun violence prevention legislation that passed the U.S. House in 2019 under Speaker Pelosi’s leadership included:
- H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which would require background checks on all gun sales.
- H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act, which would address the Charleston Loophole that currently allows a gun sale to move forward after three business days, even if a background check has not been completed.
- H.R. 1585, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, which included life-saving measures to keep guns away from domestic abusers and ensure that law enforcement is informed when domestic abusers fail a background check and are stopped from purchasing a firearm.
- H.R. 2740, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Defense, State, Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, which would provide $50 million in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to research the root causes of gun violence and solutions that could prevent it. Twenty-five million dollars of that funding was signed into law, the first time Congress has appropriated funding specifically for gun violence research in more than 20 years.