Sep 19, 2019 - Politics & Policy

MSNBC to host gun safety forum for 2020 Democrats

Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

MSNBC is partnering with March for Our Lives and a nonprofit founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a 2011 shooting, to host a gun safety forum featuring 10 2020 Democrats on Oct. 2.

Why it matters: Activism around gun violence has been more sustained than usual since mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton last month, per Axios' Neal Rothschild. Immigration, which had been the top issue in terms of social media interactions throughout much of 2019, is now in second place behind guns.

  • Nearly 40,000 people in the U.S. died from gun wounds in 2017 according to data from the CDC.

Details: The forum will be held in Las Vegas one day after the two-year anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

The participants: The event will feature a lineup identical to the third Democratic debate, including ...

  • Joe Biden
  • Cory Booker
  • Pete Buttigieg
  • Julián Castro
  • Kamala Harris
  • Amy Klobuchar
  • Beto O'Rourke
  • Bernie Sanders
  • Elizabeth Warren
  • Andrew Yang

Go deeper: March for Our Lives launches gun control plan to spur 2020 youth vote

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Axios
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Lethal injection facility in San Quentin, California. Photo: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via Getty Images

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Data: Axios/Ipsos poll; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

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Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

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