April 16, 2018
Press Release
New Video: Graham Urges Floridians to Join the Movement to Protect Kids from Gun Violence
In a powerful new video, “It’s Time,” Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham shares her passionate response to the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and reaffirms her pledge to continue taking on the gun lobby as governor.
“What happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas is every parent’s worst nightmare. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to lose a child,” says Graham, a mother of three. “My heart breaks as a mom. That’s how this issue resonates with me, not as someone running for office, but as a mom that never wants any parent to face what those parents faced.”
“Time after time after time we have done nothing in the face of these horrific tragedies. This time will be different. This time must be different,” Graham says.
In the video, Graham holds the NRA, Legislature and Governor Scott accountable for Florida’s lax gun laws. She says it’s time to end the gun lobby’s control of Florida’s government and pledges to beat them again, just as she did in her 2014 congressional campaign.
“The gun lobby bears a significant responsibility but ultimately it’s the Republicans in the Legislature that are allowing these pieces of legislation to go through and the governor for signing them. It’s time we take common sense gun safety steps, that even if they prevent one death — one death — it’s worth it,” Graham says. “And it’s time to end the control the gun lobby has here. When I ran for Congress, the gentleman I ran against was an ‘A’, maybe an ‘A+’, rated NRA member, and they put almost $300,000 into his campaign to beat me — and they lost. And they will lose again when I’m governor.”
After years of passing laws favorable to the gun lobby, as Graham describes in the video, the State of Florida recently enacted gun safety legislation that must be both enforced and built upon — taking some of the steps most likely to help prevent incidents like the one at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and reduce daily gun violence across Florida. Graham has pledged that as Governor, she will work to suspend AR-15 sales, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and strengthen the background check system so that it is truly effective and universal.
“It was less than two years ago that I joined Congressman John Lewis in the House sit-in to demand a vote on gun safety legislation after the tragedy at Pulse,” Graham said. “We’ve witnessed hundreds of mass shootings and thousands of deaths since then and Paul Ryan has refused to allow a single vote on common sense gun safety. If Congress won’t act, as governor, I will.”
Graham was the first Democratic gubernatorial candidate to receive the endorsement of Moms Demand Action as a Gun Sense Candidate and she was the first candidate to offer a comprehensive gun safety plan, in June of 2017. In Congress, Graham voted to regulate armor-piercing ammunition and she cosponsored legislation to require universal background checks and prevent suspected terrorists from purchasing weapons.
