Beto has long been an advocate for Gun Safety legislation and a strong voice against Hate. The El Paso tragedy resulted in the media covering this, and it seems to have strengthened Beto’s resolve even more--but this is not a new issue for him.

In 2016, when Republicans shut down C-SPAN coverage to try to hide the Democratic sit-in protest to force a vote on gun legislation, Beto and Scott Peters together set up their own livestreaming to allow C-SPAN to use these feeds to end the blackout. https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/national/2016/06/22/democrats-stage-sit--shut-down-chamber-over-gun-laws/86254614/

Here is Beto’s rating from the NRA from his time in Congress: a beautiful “F”

x Beto OÃ¢ÂÂRourke

Last NRA rating: F

Total NRA contributions: $0https://t.co/PGtWuzzZ2t — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) February 25, 2018

On Father’s Day 2018, Beto spent the day leading a march on Tornillo to protest child detention (which btw was later closed in part due to all of the marches), and was scheduled to meet with student survivors of the Santa Fe high school shooting later that day. Here is a long twitter thread from one of the students recounting that meeting that show Beto’s dedication to this issue (over a year before the El Paso massacre)

x hereÃ¢ÂÂs a thread of how i met @BetoORourke. i donÃ¢ÂÂt think enough people know this story, and itÃ¢ÂÂs so telling of his character. heÃ¢ÂÂs not your average Ã¢ÂÂpoliticianÃ¢ÂÂ, heÃ¢ÂÂs a public servant & this proves that. — bree Ã°ÂÂÂ (@breebxtler) August 9, 2019

x my aunt chris reached out to his campaign, explaining the situation, and set up a meeting with him. this was during midterms, and we knew a lot about him, but @MarcelMcClinton & i werenÃ¢ÂÂt sold. we thought he was some run of the mill politician. — bree Ã°ÂÂÂ (@breebxtler) August 9, 2019

x we got questions ready and a list of our policy points as an org together & invited other SF families. we were ready to grill him. that afternoon, a few hours before he was supposed to be there, we got a text from his campaign manager. — bree Ã°ÂÂÂ (@breebxtler) August 9, 2019

x beto had other plans. he talked his way off the plane, rented a car, & DROVE FOUR HOURS to Galveston. he got there around 9pm instead of 6, but he still made it. we loosened up a bit, but we were still expecting this to be another campaign stop. — bree Ã°ÂÂÂ (@breebxtler) August 9, 2019

x he admitted to us that night that he didnÃ¢ÂÂt know as much as he should about GVP. itÃ¢ÂÂs something i truly appreciated. he used us to learn, not for publicity. he asked us more questions than we asked him, and when we did ask him things he answered honestly. — bree Ã°ÂÂÂ (@breebxtler) August 9, 2019

x we had specific legislation for him during that meeting, and he studied it closely. he stayed in contact & stayed supportive, and still is to this day. — bree Ã°ÂÂÂ (@breebxtler) August 9, 2019

x he is dedicated to his constituents. he is dedicated to being accessible and honoring the needs of the people. heÃ¢ÂÂs not like everyone else, and that cannot be ignored. sorry for the long ass thread, but i hope you read it through & understand its importance to the 2020 election. — bree Ã°ÂÂÂ (@breebxtler) August 9, 2019

Here also is newspaper coverage https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2018/06/18/from-a-tornillo-protest-to-a-roundtable-with-santa-fe-shooting-survivors-beto-orourke-had-a-busy-fathers-day from the San Antonio Current.

In May, Beto wrote this op-ed in the Houston Chronicle “Here’s How I’d Stop Gun Violence” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Beto-O-Rourke-Here-s-how-I-d-stop-gun-13854698.php He discusses universal background checks without exceptions, stop selling assault weapons, adopting red flag laws across the whole country, investing in research into gun violence for understanding and prevention, making sure every life is valued and doing our best to save every one

After the Sutherland Springs Church shooting, Beto wrote this essay on medium.com. It is powerful and I encourage you to read the whole thing beyond the sentence I'm posting here “These are human acts of terror and violence. There is a human solution to them beyond offering prayers. “https://medium.com/@betofortexas/sutherland-springs-ea99a088b0dc

Here is a HuffPost article on a middle school student asking Beto about gun violence and his powerful video response.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beto-o-rourke-gun-violence_n_5cd048ace4b0e4d757360676

Right before the El Paso tragedy, Beto was the first candidate to commit to attend the October 2 forum on gun violence:

In Iowa just recently a reporter tried a gotcha question with Beto, but she failed miserably:

x Beto came with the receipts. Funnily enough, his response to Christchurch shooting blaming Trump got coverage in Iowa at the time: https://t.co/z6VUyips81 https://t.co/Hz9VoXtQEe — Daniel Marans (@danielmarans) August 23, 2019

None of this is new to Beto --he has been consistent in advocating for gun safety legislation and connecting the dots between hate crimes and Trump’s rhetoric. Here is a thread documenting even more times Beto has spoken out: https://twitter.com/_deviantartstan/status/1164958227265536001?s=20

After the El Paso tragedy, Beto spoke frankly about white nationalism and the terrorist attack on his hometown on Pod Save America https://crooked.com/podcast/8chan-in-the-white-house/

Here is the top line of Beto’s plan to end gun violence (check his website at betoorourke.com/... for the full detailed comprehensive plan)

x We have, by far, the most ambitious plan to end the epidemic of gun violence in this race. In addition to requiring universal background checks and banning assault weapons, we would also create a nationwide gun licensing programÃ¢ÂÂand enact a mandatory buyback of assault weapons. pic.twitter.com/RdgGAGfxyk — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 16, 2019

and the USA Today editorial he wrote about the plan: www.usatoday.com/...

And Beto practices what he preaches about going everywhere and refusing to write anyone off, when he went to an Arkansas gun show to share his plan to end gun violence:

x Larry Beaver, a Republican Trump supporter and gun owner told O'Rourke, "I respect you for talking to meÃ¢ÂÂ and said he Ã¢ÂÂmight be willing to support O'Rourke's assault weapons buy-back plan.Ã¢ÂÂ



More on @betoorourke refusing to write anyone off, via @ABC https://t.co/aGp1ZWPxZq — Rachel Thomas (@rachel_r_thomas) August 18, 2019

Shortly after this, Beto was the first— and to my knowledge THE ONLY-- candidate to support the March for Our Lives Peace plan (please share in the comments if any other candidates have signed on):

x Thank you @BetoORourke for being the first presidential candidate to come out and support the #PeacePlan



Tweet at your candidates to let them know that this is the leadership and courage we need to create lasting Peace. https://t.co/oBbKPkDSjY — David Hogg (@davidhogg111) August 21, 2019

If you’re interested in helping Beto’s presidential campaign or just want his voice to continue calling out hate and Trump, please consider donating. Beto doesn’t accept any PAC money, just individual contributions from real people, so any contribution of any amount is a big deal https://betoorourke.com/

If you would like to volunteer, here’s the link to do so https://act.betoorourke.com/signup/volunteer/?source=web-header-nav you can volunteer to knock doors, make phone calls, data entry, host an event, organize, etc.

I’ll close this diary with a fitting quote from Beto: