Giffords-endorsed Anthony Brindisi has a 100 percent rating from the NRA

Assemblyman and congressional candidate Anthony Brindisi recently was endorsed by Giffords, the gun safety group founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, as part of its “campaign to elect gun safety champions.” But Brindisi, an upstate Democrat, has a 100 percent rating from the National Rifle Association, which is higher than the 93 percent NRA rating of his opponent, Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney. Brindisi voted against New York’s 2013 SAFE Act, a landmark gun control law passed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. He also sponsored and supported legislation to repeal parts of the SAFE Act.

Giffords Executive Director Peter Ambler told City & State that Brindisi “will fight to protect our kids and communities from gun violence while respecting the Second Amendment,” and that while the Brindisi vowed to take on gun violence, Tenney made unfounded and inflammatory claims about mass shooters. Brindisi said he has “been vocal on the need for universal gun background checks” and “the things we must do to ensure dangerous people don’t get weapons,” and that he never took money from the NRA. However, the issue of gun safety does not appear on his campaign website.

Brindisi also said he participated in one of the nationwide “March for Our Lives” rallies last week, which called for new, comprehensive gun safety legislation.

If elected, Brindisi would be the only New York Democrat with a passing grade from the NRA, and only the second member of the state’s congressional delegation with a perfect rating, along with Rep. Chris Collins.