G-PAC Illinois and Giffords PAC Endorse Slate of Gun Safety Candidates for Illinois General Assembly
CHICAGO – The Gun Violence Prevention PAC of Illinois (G-PAC), the state’s leading gun violence advocacy organization, and GIFFORDS PAC, the national gun safety organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, announced today a slate of endorsements for Illinois House and Senate races.
Since 2015, G-PAC and GIFFORDS PAC have joined together to endorse legislative candidates in Illinois as part of their mission to elect more champions to office to pass common sense gun safety measures. Today’s endorsements of 72 Illinois House incumbents, five House challenger candidates, and 18 Senate incumbents represents the highest number of candidates endorsed by the two organizations, demonstrating the years of work to grow gun safety majorities in Springfield and enact significant gun reforms. See the full list of endorsed candidates on G-PAC’s website.
“We are proud to be supporting both incumbents and challengers for the Illinois Statehouse to grow the number of gun safety champions in office this November,” said Kathleen Sances, G-PAC Illinois President and CEO. “Today’s endorsements include five challengers in House races that represent communities of high gun violence rates, districts that gun safety champions are trying to win back, and parts of the state that would be new ground for G-PAC support. We’re working hard to ensure that come November our work continues, and we don’t roll back all the progress that has put Illinois at the forefront of the gun violence prevention movement.”
“State legislatures continue to play a critical role in keeping Americans safe from gun violence, and thanks to champions like the candidates we’re endorsing today, Illinois remains at the forefront of this fight,” said former Congresswoman Giffords. “In 2023, Illinois reinforced its commitment to addressing this crisis with the passage of an assault weapon and large capacity magazine ban and an historic investment in community violence intervention programs — all of which will be responsible for saving lives across the state. However, there is so much more that needs to be done to keep our communities safe, and I know the candidates we’re supporting will push for continued progress in Springfield until every Illinois family from Chicago to the Metro East can live free of the threat of senseless violence. I am proud to stand behind these determined leaders and look forward to working alongside them to build a safer future for all.”
Since G-PAC was founded, the organization has worked to enact five significant gun reforms in the Illinois General Assembly to hold corrupt gun dealers accountable, enact universal background checks on all gun sales, make untraceable homemade ghost guns illegal, ban military style weapons and high-capacity magazines, and hold gun manufacturers accountable for the devastation their products inflict on our communities.
G-PAC’s currently working to push for Safe At Home legislation to strengthen state laws around safe weapons storage and reporting of lost and stolen weapons to collectively better prevent minors, at-risk individuals, and criminals from accessing deadly weapons, committing crime and inflicting tragedy.
Founded in 2013 by gun violence survivors, G-PAC is committed to ending the gun violence epidemic by supporting the passage of a responsible, common sense gun safety agenda focused on illegal guns and gun trafficking. Learn more about G-PAC: https://gpacillinois.com/.