Newtown Action Alliance and States United to Prevent Gun Violence Action Fund Endorse Patrick Murphy for U.S. Senate

For Immediate Release

October 19, 2016

Contact:
Julia Wyman
julia@ceasefireusa.org

John Kelley
jkelley@newtownaction.org
917-679-6475

Newtown Action Alliance and States United to Prevent Gun Violence Action Fund Endorse Patrick Murphy for U.S. Senate

Newtown, CT- Newtown Action Alliance and States United to Prevent Gun Violence Action Fund proudly endorse U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy for the U.S. Senate seat in Florida now occupied by Senator Marco Rubio.

The Senate has failed to protect innocent Americans from gun violence since a gunman with severe mental illness killed 20 innocent children and six educators in an elementary school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

Since Sandy Hook,
· According to the Mass Shooting Tracker, there have been over 1,400 mass shooting incidents (where four or more people are shot in one incident) including the tragic Orlando Pulse nightclubs shooting where 49 people were killed and 53 more were injured.

· Over 400,000 Americans have been killed or injured by guns.

And according to the Gun Violence Archive, guns have killed 2469 Floridians and injured 4455 more – with 654 being children under the age of 17 – since 2014.

Rep. Murphy has made a commitment to make gun violence prevention his legislative priority. He has cosponsored Rep. Jackie Spier’s (D-CA) Fix Gun Checks Act of 2015 for comprehensive background checks on all gun purchases. He has called for keeping assault weapons out of the hands of dangerous people and banning high capacity magazines. He also supports closing the terrorist gun loophole to prevent suspected terrorists from legally purchasing guns.

According to the 2013 Quinnipiac University poll, 91 percent of voters from Florida support universal background checks for all gun purchases. Despite the overwhelming support for background checks in his state, Senator Rubio rejected the 2013 bipartisan compromise bill, the Manchin-Toomey Amendment, to close the loopholes in the National Criminal Background Check System, to keep guns away from dangerous individuals. As a father of four young children, it was surprising that he did not stand with the families of the Sandy Hook tragedy to join his fellow Republicans (Susan Collins-ME, Mark Kirk-IL, John McCain-AZ and Pat Toomey-PA) to support the compromise background check bill.

Senator Rubio failed to stand with the families of victims and survivors impacted by the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting by voting against Senator Chris Murphy’s (D-CT) amendment for comprehensive background checks to keep guns away from dangerous individuals and Senator Diane Feinstein’s (D-CA) bill to prohibit sales of guns to those on the TSA terror watch list. He has also cosponsored an extremely dangerous corporate gun lobby-supported bill, Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2015, which would override states’ laws on the carrying of concealed weapons (CCW) and would force every state to recognize every other state’s CCW permits. Currently, nine states generally allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons in public without a permit therefore this bill would significantly weaken gun safety regulations in communities across the country.

Senator Rubio has made promoting gun rights his legislative priority to receive the endorsement from the National Rifle Association (NRA). To prove his loyalty to the corporate gun lobby, he purchased a handgun on Christmas Eve last year and he has been attending the NRA Convention for years.

Newtown is tragically connected to Orlando due to horrific acts of gun violence. While Congress cannot stop all gun tragedies, it can and it must do more to enact sensible gun legislation to protect our children, families and communities from gun violence. The State of Florida and United States desperately needs Senators like Patrick Murphy, who will go toe-to-toe with the corporate gun lobby, to make gun violence prevention a legislative priority on the Senate Floor.

This endorsement is made independently and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
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The Newtown Action Alliance (www.newtownaction.org) is a grassroots organization formed after the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It works to make America’s children, families, and all citizens safer through legislative and cultural change that will reduce gun violence. Newtown Action Alliance is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization.

States United to Prevent Gun Violence Action Fund, Inc. (supgvactionfundinc.org) is a 501 (C) (4) civic and education organization dedicated to preventing gun violence in all forms.