10 years later
Gabby Giffords reflects on life since shooting.
Unbidden, Gabby Giffords broke into song.
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,” she began in a clear voice, a broad smile on her face. It is a favorite hymn, one she was shown playing on her French horn in a clip at the Democratic National Convention last summer. “That saved a wretch like me.”
The former Arizona congresswoman had been talking to USA TODAY about the difficult, momentous year of pandemic and politics, one that ended with the election of her husband, Mark Kelly, to the U.S. Senate seat once held by John McCain.
But she was also talking about the difficult, momentous decade since she was grievously wounded by a gunman at a listening session she was holding outside a Tucson Safeway. On that Saturday morning, six others who had gathered to see her were killed. Their assailant would be sentenced to life in prison.
Friday is the 10th anniversary of the attack that transformed her life and has reverberated through the lives of others.
“I’m happy and I’m sad,” she said when asked about how she’ll feel on the anniversary. “One, two, three, four, five, six shootings – dead.”
A shadow passed over her face as she remembered the young aide, the federal judge, the 9-year-old girl and the others who were murdered that day. Then she stiffened her posture and collected herself, punching her left hand in the air for emphasis as she repeated her mantra: “Move ahead. Move ahead. Move ahead.”
The past is never far away, of course. An hour or so before her conversation with USA TODAY, conducted over Zoom on Wednesday afternoon, a mob supporting President Donald Trump’s grievances over the election had stormed the Capitol and forced the frantic evacuation of lawmakers from the House and Senate chambers, including Kelly. Giffords had gotten reassurances that he was safe just before the interview. “Scary,” she said.
After the interview, she posted a message on Twitter to her husband. “As I sat waiting for information about @SenMarkKelly’s safety today, I couldn’t stop thinking about what you must have gone through 10 years ago this week,” she tweeted. “I love you, sweetie.”
Almost precisely 10 years since her “Congress on your Corner” event was disrupted by a gunman, the Capitol itself had come under assault. Then, she was an up-and-coming lawmaker and her husband was an astronaut, in Houston as he prepared for a flight to the International Space Station. This time, he was a newly minted senator and she was working from their new home in Washington, D.C., on the campaign against gun violence that she has adopted as her own.
She and Kelly founded their advocacy group in 2013, in the wake of the horrific mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Originally called Americans for Responsible Solutions, the organization’s name was changed in 2017 to simply Giffords, a reflection of her signature role on the issue, a recognition of her brand.
“People were calling it ‘Gabby’s Group,’ ” said Peter Ambler, a former congressional aide who is now executive director. “We decided to cut right to the chase.”
Giffords, 50, is the co-founder, chief spokesperson and lead fundraiser for the group that carries her name. “She sets the tone and sets the strategy,” Ambler said.
“Every movement needs one or two heroic figures, and Gabby, for us as a movement, is that heroic figure,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who has emerged as a central leader against gun violence since the Sandy Hook shooting in his home state.
Patience and persistence, even in the face of setbacks, are qualities she has honed in her own recovery from the bullet that pierced her brain. She has limited use of her right arm and leg; she walks with a limp and uses a cane. Her memory is sharp and her humor intact, but she struggles to speak.
For her videotaped remarks to the Democratic National Convention in August, which lasted about 90 seconds, she practiced and trained with her speech therapist for 130 hours, Ambler estimated.
Giffords’ willingness to let people see her struggle is one reason she has been so effective as an advocate, said Patricia Maisch, a constituent who had signed up to speak with her that day 10 years ago. She had grabbed the assailant’s extra ammunition to keep him from reloading his gun. “Watching her progress endears her to a lot of people and helps pull them to the light side,” Maisch, now 71, said in an interview. “She’s opened people’s eyes.”
For Giffords, too, her life and her mission were changed that day, but she is not a person generally given to funks. “It will be a long, hard haul, but I’m optimistic,” she said. She pointed to the outcome of Georgia’s Senate runoff elections this week. Two Republican incumbents backed by the NRA lost to Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who were backed by Giffords and other gun safety groups and now give control of the Senate to Democrats.
“Warnock won!” she said. “Woo!”