Giffords speaks out:
Violence survivor issues challenge over gun safety
“Stopping gun violence takes courage, the courage to do what’s right,” former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords says in Phoenix. Giffords, who was severely wounded in 2011, says she is ready to take on any Arizona politician who stands in the way of gun-violence prevention.
It was as if she was still an Arizona congresswoman meeting and greeting constituents, handling the push and pull of politics.
She waved as the Phoenix audience clapped when she entered the room. She listened and held the hand of Jennifer Longdon, an Arizona gunshot survivor who spoke about the bullet that hit her spine and the one that pierced her fiance’s brain. And she shook hands with a boy whose mother stood nearby smiling at the pair.
Then, it was time for Gabrielle Giffords to speak, something that used to come easy for the seasoned lawmaker.
After recovering from being shot in the head during a 2011 meeting with constituents near Tucson, Giffords, along with her husband, Navy veteran and retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, spent years working to change gun laws.
Thursday, when she appeared at the Heard Museum, she made clear she remains unafraid of the political push and pull.
Giffords told the audience she is ready to start fighting any Arizona politician who stands in the way of gun-violence prevention.
“Stopping gun violence takes courage, the courage to do what’s right, the courage of new ideas,” she said. “I’ve seen great courage when my life was on the line. Now is the time to come together be responsible. Democrats, Republicans, everyone, we must never stop fighting.”
She kept her comments brief, but not timid.
“Fight, fight, fight,” she said. “Be bold, be courageous, the nation’s counting on you.”