Stop Gun Violence PAC
Stop Gun Violence PAC is a political action committee (PAC) that supports gun control legislation while advocating other left-of-center policies. The organization was founded in 2023 by Brian Lemek, the founder and executive director of Defend the Vote. During the 2024 election cycle, Stop Gun Violence PAC raised and spent about $1.2 million, with most expenditure going toward political consulting firms, principally Mothership Strategies. 1 2
Contents
Background
Stop Gun Violence PAC was founded in January 2023 by Brian Lemek, the founder and executive director of Defend the Vote, and advocates stricter gun control legislation. The PAC has also criticized the National Rifle Association, claiming the gun-rights group placed “profits over public safety.” 1 The PAC also launched petitions to support non-gun-related left-of-center policies. 3 4
Finances
During the 2024 election cycle, Stop Gun Violence PAC raised $1.21 million and spent $1.14 million. The PAC spent over $300,000 on fundraising and about two-thirds of its expenditures went to consultants, the largest recipient of which was Mothership Strategies, a Democratic Party-aligned digital strategy firm that was founded in 2014 by Greg Berlin, Jake Lipsett, and Charles Starnes. The PAC’s second-largest overall recipient of funds was Defend the Vote, another organization founded by Stop Gun Violence PAC founder Brian Lemek, which received $186,000. 5 6 7
As of March 2025, Stop Gun Violence PAC had raised $176,365.08 and spent $156,490.59 in the 2026 election cycle. The largest recipients of funds through March were political consulting firms Mothership Strategies, Three Marie, and EveryAction. 2
Stop Gun Violence PAC takes donations through Democratic Party fundraising conduit ActBlue. 8
Stop Gun Violence PAC’s funds are deposited in the Amalgamated Bank, a labor union-aligned and formerly labor union-owned bank. 9
Activities
During the 2024 election cycle, Stop Gun Violence PAC launched a petition demanding that the U.S. Congress invoke the Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment to ban then-former president Donald Trump from running for president. 3
Stop Gun Violence PAC launched a Twitter/X account in May 2023. As of May 2025, the account was active and had 2,753 followers. 10
Leadership
Brian Lemek is the founder and treasurer of the Stop Gun Violence PAC. Lemek is the founder and executive director of Defend the Vote, a Democratic PAC that spent $7.4 million during the 2024 election cycle. Lemek was also a founding member and executive director of the Brady PAC, the political action committee of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2 11
Mauranda Evans, also known by her maiden name Mauranda Simmons, is a social media consultant for Stop Gun Violence PAC. Evans has also worked for U.S. Reps. Pat Ryan (D-NY) and Josh Riley (D-NY), U.S. Senate candidate Roland Gutierrez (D-TX), and Defend the Vote PAC. 12