In an email sent to their supporters Monday, the Democratic National Committee asked people to donate to them and the Giffords PAC, a gun control group started by former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords.
Giffords, who was shot during an assassination attempt in 2011, started the PAC with her husband Mark Kelly to promote gun control polices, such as universal background checks, restricting access to “semi-automatic assault weapons,” and fighting the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.
“Over the weekend in El Paso, a young man with hate in his heart and a weapon of war in his hands walked into a Walmart and massacred at last 20 people,” the email read. “It was one of the worst mass shootings in American history. Hours later, it happened again.”
“We can’t afford to wait another day, or for another massacre to happen in our country, for lawmakers to address this. Yet the defenders of the status quo — the gun manufacturing lobby and every single politician who is paid to defend it — will tell you that horrific acts of violence are beyond our control,” it continued, according to Fox News.
The email then asks people to split donations between the Giffords PAC and the DNC.
In a statement to Fox News, DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa said, “Our goal is to end gun violence once and for all. The way to do that is by helping organizations like the Giffords PAC and by electing Democrats up and down the ticket who will work day in and day out to pass the reforms we need to protect our families and our children. That’s the only way to ensure change.”
Calls for more gun control after the two mass shootings have increased, with Democrats in Congress and the 2020 presidential candidate field urging Republicans to return from recess and pass more gun control measures.
