Gabby Giffords Super PAC Releases New Ad On Newtown Anniversary

Gabby Giffords Super PAC Releases New Ad On Newtown Anniversary

Americans for Responsible Solutions, the anti-gun violence group created by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and her husband Mark Kelly, released a new ad Friday timed with the one-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting.

The ad, titled "Silent Night," is set to a somber instrumental of the classic Christmas song. It features a brief montage of pictures showing the mourning that followed last year's elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., which left 20 children and six adults dead. At the end, the commercial flashes a message: "30,000 die each year from gun violence. How long do we have to wait for Congress to act?"

Kelly put out a statement to accompany the ad, in which he expressed his and Giffords' disappointment that the current Congress failed to pass any measures that would curb gun violence.

"In the weeks after Newtown, we heard politician after politician give eloquent speeches -- promising that they would keep our communities safe. They promised that they would honor the dead in Newtown," he said.

Kelly went on to highlight the bipartisan bill to expand background checks, which failed to overcome a GOP-led filibuster in April despite having the support of 90 percent of the American people.

"The Senate, it seemed, was in the grip of the gun lobby. Gabby and I were disappointed, but we were not defeated," Kelly said. "The fight is not over. And America will not forget Sandy Hook."

Giffords is herself a victim of gun violence. A gunman shot Giffords in the head in the 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., while the then-congresswoman met with her constituents.

Like other groups created to reduce gun violence, Americans for Responsible Solutions has spent the last year advocating for stricter gun laws. The broader coalition includes groups such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action, and Newtown Action Alliance. Their hope has been to match the intensity of the National Rifle Association, which remains one of the most formidable lobbying forces in politics.

Shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting, Americans for Responsible Solutions announced a fundraising target for 2014 that would match the NRA's spending in 2012 elections. The super PAC met its goal within months.

Congress has nonetheless passed zero gun control laws since the Sandy Hook shooting. Most lawmakers have said the tragedy did not even change their views on gun violence.

Before You Go

Giffords Appears At Gun Control Hearing

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