Final Night of Democratic National Convention Features Gun Violence Survivors and Gun Safety Advocates

CHICAGO – The final night of the Democratic National Convention prominently featured gun violence survivors and gun safety advocates sharing their own personal stories on the convention stage, highlighting how Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz are fighting for Americans’ right to live free from the fear of gun violence.  

Americans heard about the Harris-Walz commitment to defending the right to be safe in our homes, schools, and communities from former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, as well as Congresswoman Lucy McBath; Abbey Clements of Connecticut, a second grade teacher who survived the Sandy Hook School shooting; Kim Rubio of Texas, whose daughter was killed in the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas; Melody McFadden of South Carolina, who lost her mother and sister in fatal shootings; and Edgar Vilchez of Illinois, a Chicago student and gun safety activist.

Kamala Harris has spent her entire career working to keep Americans safe, and as Vice President, she oversees the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, leading the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to end the nation’s gun violence epidemic. In June 2022, President Biden and Vice President Harris helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – the first major federal gun safety bill to be signed into law in nearly 30 years. And under Vice President Harris’s leadership of the Administration’s gun safety work, she has helped advance dozens of executive actions to keep dangerous weapons and repeat shooters off our streets, provide law enforcement with more tools and resources to reduce gun violence, and more.

In Governor Walz, Vice President Harris has chosen a running mate that shares her vision for a safer America. As Governor of Minnesota, Governor Walz signed major gun safety legislation into law, including universal background checks and a red flag law that allows law enforcement to intervene when someone is at high risk of injuring themselves or others with a firearm.

As Americans have watched the Democratic National Convention this week, they have seen the clear contrast between the Harris-Walz vision for a safer, more secure America and NRA-backed Donald Trump who only looks out for himself.