Major gun safety group endorses Joe Biden's presidential bid

Joe Biden has received the endorsement of one of the nation’s largest gun control advocacy groups, Everytown for Gun Safety, in the latest sign that Bernie Sanders’ spotty record on guns may be weighing him down in the presidential primary.

Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund plans to spend $60 million on electoral activities this cycle, some of which will go toward trying to elect Biden. An Everytown spokesman said the group typically airs advertisements and engages in grassroots organizing for the candidates it endorses, though it’s unclear when the group will begin to spend on Biden’s behalf. The group, which was co-founded by billionaire former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, also boasts 6 million supporters and more than 375,000 grassroots donors, numbers that could help boost attention and support for Biden’s presidential bid nationwide.

In an interview with The Associated Press, John Feinblatt, head of Everytown for Gun Safety, said the group chose Biden because working for gun control is “his past, it’s his present, it’s his future.” Asked if Sanders’ record on gun control factored into the group’s decision, Feinblatt said that the group looks at a candidate’s “total record.”

Feinblatt cited Biden’s support for a 1993 gun safety bill known as the Brady Bill that established background checks and a waiting period to buy most firearms as well as his opposition to measures that would shield gun manufacturers from lawsuits over misuse of their guns. He also pointed to Biden’s work on the Violence Against Women Act, which included some gun control provisions.

https://apnews.com/097658df500f68856184bf594e417016