Everytown Also Unveiling New Voter Research Indicating Voters in N.C. Support Stronger Gun Laws by a 6:1 Margin and 79% Consider a Candidate’s Position on Guns “Very Important” to Their Vote in 2020
This Week, Everytown Announced $60 Million Electoral Program for 2020 — Double What it Spent in 2018
NEW YORK — Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund announced a $250,000 digital campaign to put the North Carolina General Assembly “on notice” and pressure them to pass gun safety measures, including extreme risk legislation — also known as red flag legislation. The campaign, which will feature multiple rounds of ads over the coming months, will begin this week with a $50,000 digital ad buy to support a new ad: “North Carolina: On Notice.” The digital ad will target voters statewide, with a focus on suburban women and African American women voters.
Everytown is also unveiling new voter research, which found that voters in North Carolina support stronger gun safety laws by a 6:1 margin and 79% of voters, including 86% of voters who support stronger gun laws, consider a candidate’s position on guns “very important” to their vote in 2020.
“We’ve had enough of lawmakers who refuse to address the gun violence crisis in North Carolina,” said Claire Kempner, volunteer leader with the North Carolina chapter of Moms Demand Action, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety. “So we’re letting everyone in the North Carolina General Assembly know they have a choice to make: They can listen to the public and stand for gun safety, or be held accountable for their inaction in the voting booth.”
More than 1,300 people are shot and killed in North Carolina every year, but the Republican-controlled legislature has failed to meaningfully address gun violence. Just this month, instead of supporting common-sense gun laws, Republican representatives traveled to Virginia to attend a gun extremist rally. Everytown, Moms Demand Action, and Students Demand Action volunteers are now calling on the legislature to act by passing gun safety measures, including extreme risk legislation.
The digital campaign announcement is part of Everytown’s first digital ad campaign pressuring state legislators in 2020, the first since Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Victory Fund spent $2.5 million to flip Virginia’s General Assembly to a gun sense majority in November 2019. Earlier this week, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Victory Fund announced it would spend at least $60 million on the 2020 elections.
VIEW THE FIRST AD, “NORTH CAROLINA: ON NOTICE,” HERE.
The ad text reads:
1,300 North Carolinians are shot and killed every year.
North Carolina lawmakers, you are ON NOTICE.
Tell North Carolina lawmakers: Pass effective gun safety laws. Send a message.
A sample Facebook post headline accompanying the ad will read:
Tell North Carolina Lawmakers: Pass A Lifesaving Emergency Risk Protection Order Law!
The ads will click through to a landing page, which asks North Carolinians to sign a petition calling on the North Carolina General Assembly to support an extreme risk protection order law.
The digital campaign announcement accompanies the release of a new poll conducted by Global Strategy Group on behalf of Everytown. The results of the poll show that voters in North Carolina overwhelmingly support stronger gun laws and consider a candidate’s position on guns “very important” to their vote in 2020.
READ THE SURVEY MEMO RESULTS HERE.
The poll found a majority of respondents – including critical swing groups like independents, suburban women, and undecided voters – support legislation that would require background checks on all gun sales (91% support) and block domestic abusers from owning guns (93% support). The majority of respondents also supported the enactment of extreme risk legislation, also known as red flag laws, which give family or law enforcement a way to remove guns from someone who is exhibiting violent or unstable behavior (79% support).
Additional key findings include:
- 91% of suburban women voters support enacting red flag laws
- Voters support stronger gun laws by a 6:1 margin (54% stronger/9% less strong);
- Nearly 60% of voters are less likely to vote for a candidate who opposes a red flag law
- Voters broadly agree that it is possible to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and other dangerous people while also protecting the rights of gun owners (64% possible/36% not possible);
Global Strategy Group conducted a survey of 602 likely voters, including 230 voters from N.C. battleground districts.
More than 1,300 people are killed by gun violence every year in North Carolina, and N.C. gun deaths are on the rise, increasing by 11 percent between 2008 and 2017.