Former U.S. presidential candidate Beto O’ Rourke visited Newton on Oct. 30, and talked about gun violence.

(O’Rourke dropped out of the presidential race two days after the event. The New York Times  reported that O’Rourke withdrew from the race because of a lack of funding.)

Local gun law activists coordinated with O’Rourke’s team to bring him to Connecticut.

“It’s an opportunity for our community members and activists who have been involved in the movement since the Sandy Hook tragedy to interact with a presidential candidate that has put forth very comprehensive goals, strategies to end  gun violence,” said Po Murray, chairwoman of Newton Action Alliance.

O’Rourke agreed to support several proposals as a candidate. Those included creating an office of gun violence prevention and nationalizing Ethan’s law, a safe storage law.

He also touched on systematic issues in the country.

“We’re never going to be able to address the root causes of the problems that we see,” said O’Rourke. “Know that whether I am the candidate or the nominee, or private citizen in West Texas, I am with you every single step of the way until we fully and finally address these challenges.”