Everytown to Launch Seven-Figure TV and Digital Ad Campaign to Urge Senate to Pass Background Check Legislation

Ad Campaign Will Include Cable Television Ads, State-Specific TV and Digital Ads Urging Senators to Act on Background Checks

Everytown Co-Founder Mike Bloomberg to Participate in the Campaign by Triple Matching All Donations to Everytown 

Campaign Will Include Grassroots Events and Nationwide Grassroots Effort With More Than Six Million Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Supporters and Gun Violence Survivors Calling and Messaging Senate Offices to Demand Senators Pass Life-Saving Background Check Legislation, Backed by 93% of Americans

NEW YORK — Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund announced that it is launching a seven-figure TV and digital ad campaign, “More Than Thoughts and Prayers,” over the next several weeks and months to urge the U.S. Senate to pass life-saving background check legislation. The ad campaign will begin in early April with national cable ads, and will include state-specific TV and digital ads on broadcast and cable.

“We need more than thoughts and prayers right now –– we need action, and that means passing lifesaving background check legislation into law,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “The Senate is now the most important battleground in America in the fight for gun safety, and we’re going to stop at nothing until we get this critical legislation to President Biden’s desk.” 

“It’s been 25 years since Congress last passed meaningful federal gun safety laws, despite the staggering fact that the lives of over 100 people in America are stolen every day by gun violence, and hundreds more are wounded,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “We can’t and won’t accept gun violence as just a fact of life. To end these senseless killings, we need more than thoughts and prayers –– we need federal action on gun safety from the Senate to pass background checks into law.”

Mike Bloomberg, a co-founder of Everytown for Gun Safety, will participate in the campaign by triple matching all donations to Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund.

“The nation is in mourning but we cannot let Senators use our grief and anger as an excuse for inaction. We’ve heard that too many times,” said Mike Bloomberg. “This campaign will make it clear that the American people want these common sense changes. The more Americans who stand up and make their voices heard, the better our chances will be — and through this campaign I’ll help amplify their voices.”

As part of the campaign, Everytown will organize virtual grassroots events and mobilize its grassroots network of six million Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action supporters in an unprecedented effort to call and message Senate offices to demand Senators pass background check legislation backed by 93% of Americans –– including 89% of Republicans and gun owners.

The ad campaign follows this week’s mass shooting in Boulder, in which 10 people were shot and killed, and last week’s mass shooting in Atlanta, in which eight people were shot and killed –– including six Asian women –– and one wounded. More than 100 people in the U.S. are shot and killed by gun violence every day, and more than twice that many are wounded, in incidents of gun suicide, city gun violence, domestic gun violence, mass shootings, and more.