USS Gabrielle Giffords nearly ready

In January 2012, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., decided to resign her seat, a sad coda to the assassination attempt she had miraculously survived, but which left her badly disabled.

On that day, Giffords got a call from Ray Mabus, the secretary of the Navy at the time, who told her the Navy planned to name a warship in her honor. It would be the first Navy warship to be named after a living woman since the cutter Harriet Lane — named after the niece of President James Buchanan — was commissioned in 1857.

Next weekend, the 418foot USS Gabrielle Giffords will be commissioned in Galveston and prepared for regular duty. A bevy of Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Joe Biden are expected to attend.

“That our Navy chose to give my name to this ship is an incredibly humbling honor — one I would never have imagined, one I will never forget, and one for which I always remain grateful,” Giffords said.

The littoral combat ship, armed with missiles, machine guns and fast-firing weapons, is the sort that has come under congressional scrutiny for its expense. Also, some gun rights groups have grumbled that it was named for Giffords, who became a gun safety advocate along with her husband, retired astronaut and Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, after the assassination attempt in Tucson.