Fighting the NRA with cash

Houston mega donor gives $1 million to Gabrielle Giffords' new gun controlorganization

Mark Kelly and Gabrielle Giffords, who both own firearms, recognize that it'stime for more proactive gun control legislation.
Americans for Responsible Solutions/Facebook
Amber Anderson and Steve Mostyn gave $1 million to help kick start thecampaign.
Photo by Gary Fountain
Americans for Responsible Solutions aims to raise $20 million by the 2014election season to be on-par with National Rifle Association spending.
Americans for Responsible Solutions/Facebook

If the National Rifle Association is going to flex its muscle during election season, then there ought to be another group to balance that power, fighting money with money. So goes the thinking of former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly.

Though Giffords, who was targeted in a Tuscon mass shooting two years ago, and Kelly are both are gun owners, they find that the issue of gun ownership has been a one-sided, heavily-funded conversation for too long — and Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS) aims to fill that void and fight gun violence. The pair launched the super PAC on Tuesday.

Houston trial lawyer and activist Steve Mostyn has also taken up the torch, joining up as the group's treasurer and, along with his wife Amber Anderson, giving $1 million to kick start a $20 million campaign in anticipation of the 2014 election cycle.

Mostyn became involved when Kelly called him after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting.

According to the Center for Responsible Politics, the NRA spent that amount ($20 million) on lobbying during the 2012 elections.

"We are going to provide support and backing for candidates in U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate races that are attacked by the NRA for taking moderate positions on common-sense gun safety issues," Mostyn told Reuters. "We will also field candidates."

An outspoken Democrat who donated more than $2 million to President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign, Mostyn became involved with ARS when Kelly called him after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, Conn.

Like Giffords and Kelly, Mostyn and Anderson also own guns, a fact that they hope will calm any fears that they're pushing to outlaw firearms altogether.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”