Everytown, Moms Demand Action, Newtown Survivor Statement on Reports That Donald Trump Will Likely Select Mike Pence as Running Mate

NEW YORK – In response to reports that Donald Trump will likely select Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown, today released the following statement.

STATEMENT FROM SHANNON WATTS, FOUNDER, MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:

“Governor Pence is bought and paid for by the NRA and in lockstep with the gun lobby’s dangerous ‘guns for anyone, anywhere, anytime – no questions asked’ agenda. He supports letting more people carry hidden, loaded guns in public and has consistently backed unprecedented immunity from liability for gun manufacturers. In picking Pence, Donald Trump has doubled-down on the NRA’s agenda. Voters in November will face a clear choice – between the gun lobby’s duo, Trump and Pence, and Hillary Clinton, a gun safety champion who has vowed to buck the NRA and fight to save American lives. With this pick for vice president it has become crystal clear: gun safety will be a defining and winning issue of the 2016 election.”

STATEMENT FROM ERICA LAFFERTY SMEGIELSKI, WHOSE MOTHER DAWN LAFFERTY HOCHSPRUNG, THE PRINCIPAL AT SANDY HOOK SCHOOL, DIED WHILE PROTECTING HER STUDENTS. ERICA IS A SENIOR OUTREACH ASSOCIATE AT EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY AND MEMBER OF THE EVERYTOWN SURVIVOR NETWORK:

“A White House team of Donald Trump and Mike Pence would put more families on the front lines of gun violence in America. Governor Pence has supported a range of NRA-backed priorities. Most personally to me, he has repeatedly sided with gun manufacturers to give them blanket immunity from liability rather than standing with gun violence survivors on matters of life and death. A Trump and Pence ticket will endanger the lives of Americans. The only presidential candidate who will fight to save Americans from gun violence is Hillary Clinton.”

More on Governor Pence’s history with the NRA:

• Pence has received an ‘A’ grade and an endorsement from the NRA each election cycle.
  
• In Congress, Pence voted for gun manufacturer immunity from liability – known as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act – and as Indiana governor, he expanded a state version of the law.
  
• In Congress, Pence voted for “concealed carry reciprocity” – a lowest-common denominator standard for carrying hidden, loaded guns in public. Concealed carry reciprocity turns states’ rights on its head by forcing all states to recognize concealed carry permits from the rest of the country, thus allowing dangerous criminals and those with no safety training to carry hidden, loaded guns virtually anywhere.
  
• Over the course of his political career, gun rights groups have contributed more than $35,000 to Pence, with the NRA contributing $28,000.