The two Democratic candidates for governor ratcheted up pledges Thursday to back new firearm restrictions after a Florida gunman opened fire at a Florida high school in one of the deadliest school shootings in modern U.S. history.
Stacey Abrams, the former top Democrat in the Georgia House, said the shooting was a reminder that “the opportunity for America to protect lives from gun violence is clear. Let us pray and act swiftly, grieve and fix our broken laws.”
Her opponent, former state Rep. Stacey Evans, said the mass shooting “should shake every American.”
“As we pray for healing for the families suffering loss, grief and tragedy,” she said, “we must also work for and demand action to prevent further heinous acts.”
The debate over firearms has taken surprising prominence in the race to succeed Gov. Nathan Deal, which also features five prominent Republicans.
Both Democrats have called for stiff new gun restrictions, marking a shift for Democratic candidates for governor in Georgia.
Both have called for the repeal of the "campus carry" measure that allows more weapons on college grounds and both have voted largely against gun expansions, including a 2014 measure that vastly expanded where Georgia permit holders can carry their weapons.
But Abrams has tried to position herself as a stronger supporter of gun restrictions than her opponent.
She earned the endorsement in November from Courage to Fight Gun Violence, the group founded by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. And last week she unveiled a package of measures she said would crack down on gun violence.
The proposals include the creation of a panel that would seek ways to protect domestic violence victims from further abuse, a requirement for universal background checks and legislation that would let families and law enforcement temporarily restrict firearms access for those who have extreme mental health challenges.
At the center of her package is a call for the immediate repeal of a 2012 law that bars local law enforcement agencies from destroying owner-less firearms confiscated during criminal investigations. They must be auctioned off to a wholesaler instead.
Abrams, who voted against it, has sharply criticized Evans for her support of the auction bill.
Evans' campaign said last year she regrets the vote and wants to see it repealed. She later said she supports a separate measure pending in the Senate that would give police the option to destroy the weapons rather than re-selling them.
In a statement Thursday, Evans’ campaign said she was joined in that 2012 vote by Democratic state Sen. Nan Orrock and other “staunch gun opponents.”
“The purpose of the bill was to return guns to innocent owners once they had served their evidentiary purpose,” said campaign spokesman Seth Clark.
“The bill has since received justifiable criticism for another provision that required guns without innocent owners to be auctioned, and that’s why Ms. Evans fully supports Sen. Lester Jackson’s bill to return discretion to the police departments to destroy the guns.”
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