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Everytown for Gun Safety Launches Ad Campaign in Support of State Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla

10.12.2016

MIAMI – Florida Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund today announced an $85,000 ad campaign to fund online digital ads, digital bus shelter ads and a digital billboard in support of Republican State Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla. The Victory Fund is a Florida political committee affiliated with Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety.

Senator Diaz de la Portilla has worked to promote public safety for the past two years. Using his position as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he declined to hear a bill that would have allowed guns on Florida’s many college campuses and another that would have allowed people to openly carry handguns in public. Prior to reaching these decisions, Senator Diaz de la Portilla listened closely to concerned stakeholders – like campus security, professors and university presidents – from around the state. After careful consideration, he agreed that guns on campus would only heighten the risks already found in colleges and universities, and stopped this dangerous proposal two years in a row.

“We are lifelong Republicans, but after our son Jerry and 48 others were shot and killed at Pulse, we decided that any candidate who wants our vote, must be a candidate who is committed to support common-sense, meaningful gun safety measures,” said Maria and Fred Wright, members of the Everytown Survivor Network, parents of Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting victim Jerry Wright and residents of Senator Diaz de la Portilla’s district. “At home in Miami, the place we raised Jerry, it’s Republican Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla who will get our vote.”

In Florida’s 2017 legislative session, bills putting public safety at risk are sure to return, including proposals to allow guns on college campuses, open carry and other dangerous proposals. Re-electing Senator Diaz de la Portilla will ensure that all Floridians have a strong voice in support of common-sense gun laws in Tallahassee next year.