Press Release from Americans for Responsible Solutions:
Gabby Giffords’ Vocal Majority bus tour, hosted by Americans for Responsible Solutions, made stops at UNC Asheville today for Early Vote events to stop gun violence. State Senator Terry Van Duyn urged North Carolinians to make sure they use their vote to reduce gun violence in this election. State Representative Susan Fisher echoed his message, saying it was time for the Vocal Majority of Americans and North Carolinians who support responsible change to our gun laws to stand up and speak out this November.
The Vocal Majority Tour event and national tour is being organized and hosted by Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC, the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, the Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly.
“Our country is in the grips of a gun violence crisis. And for too long, a small but vocal minority – driven and controlled by the gun lobby – have had an outsized influence over our nation’s gun laws,” said Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly. “It’s time to ignite the Vocal Majority of Americans who support responsible change that saves lives to step out, speak up, and vote to reduce gun violence this November. The Vocal Majority will no longer be silent, and we must all be gun violence prevention voters in this election. Together, we can make sure that 2016 is remembered as the year that Americans found their voice on reducing gun violence and voted for safer communities. Your voice matters, and your vote matters.”
The event in UNC Asheville was the 35th on the 42-day Vocal Majority Tour, which Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly kicked off on September 27th in Orlando, Florida, the site of the deadliest mass shooting in our country’s history, the tragedy at the Pulse nightclub that left 49 people dead.
“It is time for us to stand up to the small, but vocal minority, controlled by the NRA that make our streets less safe.” said Sen. Terry Van Duyn. “Those of us who belong to the vocal majority of Americans who believe in the commonsense measures to stop these tragedies must use our voice at the polls, whether today, tomorrow or on Nov. 8.”
Following the events today, the Vocal Majority Tour will travel to Wilmington before heading back down to Florida to rejoin Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly.
The Vocal Majority Tour is part of ARS PAC’s “Vocal Majority” campaign this fall to mobilize millions of Americans to make the 2016 election a referendum on gun violence prevention and to support leaders up and down the ballot who are committed to taking responsible steps that reduce gun violence.
Gun violence claims the lives of 33,000 Americans, including over 1,200 North Carolinians, and more than 100,000 are injured every year.
According to recent research, 90% of North Carolina’s registered voters support responsible changes to our gun laws that help keep guns out of the wrong hands, including closing the loopholes in our laws that let felons, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill buy guns without a criminal background check, as well as loopholes that let known and suspected terrorists pass a background check and legally purchase a gun.
About Gun Violence in the United States:
Americans are nearly 20 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than people in other peer countries. [Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection, and Critical Care, 2011]. Each year, 33,000 Americans die from gun violence [WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports, 1999-2010].
Over the past 15 years, the gun murder rate has remained largely unchanged – even as violent crime has dropped. While America’s rate of violent crime has generally decreased over the past 15 years, the gun murder rate in the U.S. has remained relatively constant. [Everytown for Gun Safety, 2014].
The number of shootings is on the rise. While the number of gun murders in the U.S. has remained constant, the number of shootings has been increasing. The number of non-fatal gunshot wounds rose more than 50 percent between 2001 and 2013. [Everytown for Gun Safety, 2014].
About The 2016 Vocal Majority Tour & Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC:
The Vocal Majority Tour is just one component of ARS PAC’s 2016 Vocal Majority Campaign to make 2016 a referendum on gun violence prevention. Along with the nationwide bus tour, the campaign also includes making significant investments in races and ballot initiatives across the country to support pro-gun violence prevention candidates and responsible ballot initiatives.
Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC (ARS PAC) works to elect candidates at every level of public office who show the political courage to stand up to the gun lobby, are passionate about reducing gun violence in our communities, and who commit to taking action once elected. Since 2013, ARS PAC has supported Champions for Common Sense in key federal, gubernatorial, and state races – and supported the passage of ballot initiatives – in states around the country.
Tour Media Contact: Lauren North, north@smoottewes.com, 202-445-8684
ARS Media Contact: Mark Prentice, markp@responsiblesolutions.org, 425-999-5977
More information at responsiblesolutions.org
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