(Brooklyn, NY) This morning, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV), the state's leading anti-gun violence advocacy group, formally endorsed Democrat and Brooklyn attorney Andrew Gounardes for State Senate.
Citing Gounardes' advocacy for sensible gun laws, NYAGV Executive Director Jackie Hilly said the group chose Gounardes because he is "clearly taking a strong stand that more needs to be done to prevent gun violence" and "support[s] legislation to require microstamping of new guns sold and purchased in New York State."
Gounardes has made gun violence a major theme in his campaign to unseat Republican State Senator Marty Golden, who recently received an A rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA). "I'm honored to receive the endorsement of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, an organization started by mothers right here in Brooklyn who were fed up with gun crimes in our community, "Gounardes said. "Groups like NYAGV know that sensible gun laws do a lot more to keep our streets safe than tough talk."
"Senator Golden has spent ten years in office calling himself a public safety guy while doing little more than bolstering his NRA rating," Gounardes continued. "We elect people to get things done. Yet Marty Golden has shamefully ignored ten smart bills that would get guns off of the streets and make New York safer for everyone. Instead, he continues to side with the NRA over the interests of Brooklyn families."
Gounardes was referring to ten bills vehemently opposed by the NRA but supported by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and leading law enforcement agencies like the NYC Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the Detectives Endowment Association, and NYC Corrections Officers.
In 2010, Golden infamously walked out of the chamber rather than cast a vote on microstamping, a technology that imprints bullet casings with the make, model, and serial number of the gun from which they were fired. The move has put him at odds with longtime ally Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who called a recent "community gun" bill sponsored by Golden "ridiculous."
Golden also failed to support a bill that would have given judges the power to seize firearms and permits from people involuntarily committed to a mental health institution and one that would ban carrying a firearm while drunk.