Everytown For Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action, Statements on Sen. Patrick Leahy’s Retirement Announcement

Today, following Sen. Patrick Leahy’s (D-VT) announcement of his decision to not seek re-election in 2022, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action issued the following statements:

“Sen. Leahy has spent his career in the Senate proving that you can be a rural gun owner and an advocate for common sense reforms that keep our communities safe,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “His contributions to the gun violence prevention movement  have helped cement his legacy in the Senate as someone who is willing to work across the aisle to help save lives.”

“As a gun owner from rural Vermont, Sen. Leahy has continually shown that common sense gun safety goes hand-in-hand with responsible gun ownership,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “We are grateful for Sen. Leahy’s distinguished leadership and lifetime of public service to the people of Vermont and this country, and wish him all the best in retirement.”

In his nearly four decades in the Senate, Sen. Leahy has been at the center of many critical gun safety debates and has worked to find common-sense, bipartisan solutions to end gun violence. 

As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee following the Sandy Hook shooting, Sen. Leahy held hearings and advanced legislation that would have expanded background checks to close the gun show and Internet sale loopholes, banned assault weapons, and provided resources to improve security at schools. Sen. Leahy also fought to expand and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to protect victims from abusers armed with guns.

Working across the aisle, Sen. Leahy partnered with Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) on the bipartisan Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act, which would, for the first time, make it an explicit federal crime to act as a straw purchaser of firearms. The bill would also create penalties for anyone who transfers a firearm with reasonable cause to believe that it will be used in a drug crime, crime of violence, or act of terrorism. 

Most recently, as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Leahy helped author and advance government spending bills that made historic investments in reducing gun violence such as a $5 billion investment in community violence intervention programs, a full investment in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, a massive increase in the budget for the Office of Violence Against Women, and a doubling of the CDC’s budget for studying gun violence as a public health epidemic.