Two influential gun control advocacy groups that have pushed for tighter background checks and gun bans are merging to push back on the National Rifle Association and bolster Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign to win the presidency and rewrite gun laws.
Americans for Responsible Solutions, headed by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly, is teaming with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in what ARS said would create a “powerful new force for gun safety legislation, research, education, communications, and advocacy.”
Giffords, shot in 2011 in an attempted assassination, and Kelly will lead the joint group. The Law Center will act as their non-profit advocacy arm.
Giffords recently endorsed Clinton and has just cut a new ad for the Democratic front runner who has indicated she would push for gun control measures as president like her husband, Bill Clinton, did, including banning the most popular firearm in America, the AR-15.
“This merger unites the nation’s top gun safety messengers and advocates for commonsense changes to our laws with the people who have the deepest expertise on our nation’s gun laws and gun policy,” said Peter Ambler, of Americans for Responsible Solutions. “It’s a formidable combination that will lead the way on gun violence prevention for years to come.”
Added Robyn Thomas, the Law Center’s executive director, “By teaming up with Americans for Responsible Solutions, our legal experts will now have a much larger platform to help bring key policies like universal background checks to more states.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
