Former Arizona Congresswoman-turned-gun control advocate Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords’ gun prohibition lobbying group named for her has launched yet another gun control organization—Gun Owners for Safety (GOS)—that will formally launch Friday, according to The Hill.
Group organizers already claim to have “connected with nearly 50,000 gun owners in all 50 states” and Washington, D.C. to provide an “alternative” to the National Rifle Association. This is not the first time a group claiming to represent gun owners disillusioned with the NRA has launched during an election year, but it’s the first time such an organization has waited until only two weeks before the national election. They are making no secret about how they’re exploiting what appears to be trouble in the Second Amendment community.
According to The Hill, Gun Owners for Safety “plans to take advantage of the weakened state of the NRA, which has faced accusations of corrupt leadership and illegal spending.”
But NRA is not the only game in town, a fact that seems to constantly escape the narrow focus of the gun ban lobby. The Second Amendment Foundation has been experiencing a lot more interest from gun owners, as has its sister organization, the grassroots-oriented Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. There are also Gun Owners of America, the Firearms Policy Coalition and other groups. Anti-gunners have long tried to portray the Second Amendment movement as one large monolithic group with the initials “NRA,” but that is simply not accurate.
Meanwhile, with the election just over the horizon, Everytown for Gun Safety, the Michael Bloomberg-supported gun prohibition lobbying group, appears to be doing a favor for so-called “gun voters” by identifying candidates it supports. TGM found the following candidates endorsed on the Everytown website:
- Liz Boldon, Minnesota, State House, District 25B
- Sheryl Johnson, South Dakota, State House, District 11
- Ginny Lennox, Georgia, State House, District 20
- Joe MacKey, Indiana, US House District 4
- Aaron Marquez, Arizona, School Board, Phoenix District
- Pranav Nanda, Washington DC, Advisory Neighborhood Commission, District 6C04
- Daveda Quinn, Michigan, Jackson County Commissioner, District 9
- Eve Ryser, California, School Board, Napa Valley District
- Jasmine Surti, New Jersey, School Board, Lawrence Township District
Also, the anti-gun media has shifted into high gear. Marie Claire, for example, is currently telling readers, “While nearly 40,000 Americans die from gun violence every year, the Trump administration continues to champion the rights of gun owners and firearm dealers, rather than focusing on the safety of the American people.”
Second Amendment activists will immediately wonder what’s wrong with the administration championing their rights. And there is the problem with any journal using the language of the gun control lobby.
Of those 40,000 firearms-related deaths, the majority are suicides, but Marie Claire lumps them together with homicides, accidents and justified shootings by law enforcement or armed private citizens, and calls them all victims of “gun violence.”
According to The Hill, the GOS will “release a video sending a message to 2020 candidates from gun owners across the U.S.”
The story also notes Giffords’ husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, is running for the U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Sen. Martha McSally, and is currently “polling well ahead” of her.
