MIAMI – In a campaign stop in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood Monday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist was endorsed by former Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.
The former congresswoman, herself a victim of gun violence, is now a gun safety advocate.
Giffords, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who now works for Giffords, joined Crist at a coffee shop in Little Havana.
Crist is challenging incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis in this November’s election.
He called his positions on gun control “common sense” and “doing what’s right.”
Crist invoked the Parkland and Pulse tragedies in talking about his gun safety platform and did so in a conservative part of town where many who come from foreign dictatorships fear the words “gun law.”
“It’s not an attack on the Second Amendment,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to make schools more safe.”
Crist, a former Republican governor, describes himself as a Second Amendment supporter and is a gun owner. He’s campaigning to enforce current gun laws and said banning assault rifles will be one of his first acts if elected to return to Tallahassee.
“It’s about protecting our families from gun violence, it’s an issue that unites everyone,” Mucarsel-Powell said.