A gun-control group launched by former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) is throwing its support behind Sens. Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Mark Kirk (Ill.), two Republican senators facing tough reelection bids.
“[They] broke from the gun lobby and supported a bill to help prevent felons, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill from obtaining firearms at gun shows and online” after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, who launched Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC, wrote in a CNN op-ed Monday.
{mosads}Toomey and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) introduced a gun-control proposal in the wake of the 2012 shooting aimed at strengthening background checks. The measure, which was supported by Kirk, failed to overcome a procedural hurdle in the Senate.
Giffords and Kelly started Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC after the former Democratic congresswoman was shot in 2011 in Arizona.
Toomey — who has put public safety and law enforcement at the center of his reelection bid — said Monday that he would introduce a new gun-control bill next year if he wins in November.
The group’s endorsement comes less than a week after Erica Smegielski, the daughter of the Sandy Hook Elementary School principal who was among the 26 killed at the Connecticut school, backed Toomey. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Independence USA PAC also endorsed the Pennsylvania Republican this month.
Pennsylvania Democrats quickly hit back at the endorsement, saying Toomey “isn’t a moderate on guns, period.”
“He’s stood in the way of common sense gun safety laws and he would happily keep Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.] as the Senate Majority Leader, meaning that gun safety laws have almost no chance in the Senate,” said Preston Maddock, a spokesman for the state party.
Toomey and Kirk are two of a handful of GOP senators running for reelection in purple states previously carried by President Obama. With Republicans defending 24 seats, Democrats need to net five — or four if they also retain the White House — to win back the Senate majority.
Democratic Senate candidate Katie McGinty is currently leading Toomey in the polls by less than 3 points, according to RealClearPolitics.
— This story was updated at 11:16 a.m.