Brady Campaign Announces Final Set of 2018 Endorsements

Organization endorses more than 100 gun safety champions across U.S.

Washington, D.C., October 17, 2018 – As the midterm elections draw closer, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence released its final, bipartisan set of Congressional and state-level endorsements. Today’s announcement of 17 endorsements brings Brady’s list of endorsed gun safety champions to over 100 across the country.

The Brady Campaign endorsed the following 11 candidates for Congress: Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT-04), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA-04), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ-04), Lisa Brown (D-WA-05), Angie Craig (D-MN-02), Sharice Davids (D-KS-03), Allen Ellison (D-FL-17), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ-07), Aftab Pureval (D-OH-01), and Dr. Kim Schrier (D-WA-08).

• Rep. Jim Himes (CT-04), representing a district nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School, has seen firsthand the lasting impact that a mass shooting can have on a community. He has introduced legislation to promote smart-gun technology and supports common-sense policies to reduce the epidemic of gun violence in our country.

• Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-08) was the first Republican in Congress to co-sponsor legislation that would prevent potentially dangerous people from buying or owning guns, as well as to raise the minimum age for purchasing semiautomatic rifles to 21. He is also a cosponsor of bipartisan legislation to expand background checks on gun sales.

• Rep. Joe Kennedy III (MA-04) knows that when it comes to gun safety, Congress just isn’t doing enough. He supports a federal assault weapon ban and closing the gun show loophole, and has firmly made clear that thoughts and prayers are not enough for victims of gun violence.

• Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) has a history of supporting gun safety laws, having voted for the federal assault weapon ban in 1994. Currently, he has continued to cross the aisle to support expanded background check legislation and to oppose the concealed carry reciprocity bill.

• Lisa Brown (WA-05) wants to enact policies that prevent and reduce gun violence, without violating constitutional rights to own and use firearms legally and responsibly. She pledges to immediately sponsor legislation and vote for effective solutions backed by evidence and public support, such as banning bump stocks, closing loopholes in the background check system, and enhancing mental health treatment.

• Angie Craig (MN-02), who grew up in a hunting and sport-shooting family, knows that Second Amendment rights go hand-in-hand with efforts to keep guns away from criminals and other dangerous people. She supports funding CDC research into gun violence, universal background checks on all gun sales, and a ban on the sale of semi-automatic weapons, high-capacity clips, and bump stocks.

• Sharice Davids (KS-03) believes firearms have a role in society, but “[t]hat place is not in schools, in hospitals, in mental health facilities, or in the homes of domestic abusers.” She is calling for legislation that would treat gun violence as a public health issue, allowing us to study it and regulate it as such, as well as expanded background checks and higher standards for concealed carry permits.

• Allen Ellison (FL-17) believes that we can reduce gun violence while respecting the rights of responsible gun owners. He is committed to making sure that it isn’t easier to buy a gun than to get a driver’s licence, and will work to make sure that guns don’t fall into dangerous hands.

• Tom Malinowski (NJ-07) is committed to standing up to the gun lobby’s bullying tactics and outsized lobbying influence in Congress. He backs a comprehensive set measures to make communities safer, including banning assault weapons and the sale of armor-piercing ammunition, requiring universal background checks on all gun sales, and reversing concealed carry reciprocity laws that undermine efforts of states with strong gun restrictions to protect their citizens.

• Aftab Pureval (OH-01) believes voters have had enough of congressional inaction on common sense gun reform. Challenging an incumbent who has received over $100,000 in campaign contributions from the gun lobby, Pureval supports a ban on bump stocks and assault weapons, and limits on magazine capacity.

• Dr. Kim Schrier (WA-08), as a mom and a pediatrician, knows how important it is to take action on common sense gun safety solutions. She will work to implement universal background checks, create a nationwide Extreme Risk Protection Order policy, and to repeal the Dickey Amendment and allow the CDC to research gun violence as a public health crisis.

In Florida, Brady’s state executive council endorsed Gary McKechnie for State Senate District 12, Rep. Javier Fernandez for State House District 114, and Anna Eskaman for State House District 47. In South Carolina, the local Brady Campaign chapter endorsed Rep. Wendell Gilliard in House District 111, J.A. Moore in House District 15, and Carol Tempel in House District 115.

“From top to bottom, from coast to coast, voters have clearly stated that we want our elected officials to stand up and shout from the rooftops that we have had ENOUGH of gun violence in our country,” stated Kris Brown, co-president of the Brady Campaign. “With just a few weeks left until the midterms, it’s time for all of us to knock on doors, make phone calls, and do everything we can to make sure we the majority of Congress will focus on gun violence prevention as a priority issue. We’re proud to stand with our endorsed candidates, and we’re going to do everything we can to help them across the finish line.”

This election cycle, the Brady Campaign is focused on working with and supporting candidates throughout the country who are committed to preventing gun violence. A heavy focus is on whether candidates support Brady’s three-point plan, including expanding Brady background checks, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and passing extreme risk laws. A recent battleground poll commissioned by Brady clearly demonstrated the popularity of this plan throughout the country.

A resurgent Brady PAC is supporting candidates who commit to making gun violence prevention a top priority and is working to replace candidates who refuse to prioritize the safety of the American public. Brady is doing so through the candidate endorsement process and holding candidates accountable to their questionnaire answers. Brady PAC is targeting races across the country in support of such candidates, especially in those races targeting candidates who put gun industry profits before the safety of their constituents.

Brady is also focusing heavily on voter registration, particularly of young voters through its student initiative, Team ENOUGH. In addition to its Congressional report cards released this summer on gun safety issues, the student-led group held voter registration events throughout the summer and is working to educate and mobilize high school and university students throughout the election cycle.

Last November’s elections in Virginia and New Jersey, where multiple Brady-backed candidates won on a clear platform of gun safety, demonstrated that voters are engaging on the issue and are rejecting those supported by the NRA. And with recent pollingshowing that half of Americans want gun safety to be Congress’s top priority, it’s clear that this issue has been a leading one throughout the 2018 campaign.

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The mission of the Brady organization and its Million Mom March is to create a safer America by cutting gun deaths in half by 2025. For more insight on gun violence prevention, follow us on Facebook and Twitter @BradyBuzz.

About Us: The Brady Campaign, united with the Million Mom March, is a national network of over 90 grassroots chapter affiliates mobilized to prevent gun violence at the community level. The network has played a vital role in expanding Brady background checks in the six states that have passed legislation since the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut and produced one of the largest national protests of gun violence in U.S. history – The Million Mom March, Mother’s Day 2000.