Giffords PAC, a prominent gun safety advocacy group co-founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., is investing $10 million to back Democrats who supported the bipartisan gun safety law passed last month and to go after the Republican lawmakers who rejected it.
The investment is going toward local, state, and federal elections in both Texas and Florida, where there have been mass shootings, and to the battleground states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Wisconsin, reports Politico.
"This investment will absolutely be used to support champions who voted for the bill and in other cases, we'll be able to shine a light on the fact that their elected representative did not vote for this bill," Robin Lloyd, managing director for the PAC, commented.
Giffords, who was shot in the head during a supermarket appearance in 2011, co-founded the group with husband Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Executive Director Peter Ambler after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2012. The PAC is not spending in Arizona, even though it is a battleground state because Kelly is running for reelection this year.
The PAC has already endorsed Democrat Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, along with Pennsylvania Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is campaigning against Dr. Mehmet Oz to replace retiring Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
The group has not yet announced an endorsement in Wisconsin for a Democrat to challenge incumbent GOP Sen. Ron Johnson.
The $10 million is expected to be used for television and digital advertising, along with public events and organizing efforts, and comes after the gun safety package that gained support from 15 Republicans in the Senate and 14 in the House.
Giffords said in a statement that the investment is aimed at keeping communities "safe by giving more gun violence prevention advocates a seat at the table in city commission meetings, state legislatures, and the halls of Congress."
The bipartisan package, while not banning any weapons, closed the so-called "boyfriend loophole" by restricting people who have abused dating partners from having guns. It also provides states money to enact red-flag laws, and requires extended FBI background checks for people younger than 21 who are trying to buy a gun.
Lloyd said the law allows the Giffords PAC to pinpoint where certain lawmakers and candidates stand on gun safety.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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