Giffords survived an assassination attempt when she was shot in the head during an event with constituents in Arizona on Jan. 8, 2011. Since then, she has become an advocate for gun control, forming an organization with her husband, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly , that advocates for gun regulations. In 2022, President Joe Biden awarded Giffords the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Other speakers include Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Georgia, who lost her son to gun violence in 2012, and a group of Tennessee lawmakers known as the “ Tennessee Three ” who were expelled from the state legislature for protesting gun violence.
Who is Gabby Giffords?
Giffords was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 2006. She was re-elected in 2008 and 2010.
While in office, Giffords’ main priorities included raising the minimum wage and pushing for comprehensive immigration reform.
She first entered politics in 2001 when she was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives. The next year, she became the youngest woman elected to Arizona State Senate at the age of 32. She served until 2006.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., left, and his wife, Gabby Giffords, rehearse on stage before the start of the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center. David Baratz, USA TODAY
Gabby Giffords assassination attempt
On Jan. 8, 2011, just days after she was sworn into her third term, Giffords was shot in the head in an assassination attempt . She had invited constituents to meet her at a Safeway supermarket northwest of Tucson for a casual event called “Congress on Your Corner.” There, a man with paranoid schizophrenia opened fire, killing six people and wounding 13, including Giffords.
The shooting left Giffords in “critical” condition , and she resigned from Congress in January 2012 because of the severe brain injury. She faced years of therapy to rebuild her ability to walk and speak.
Giffords’ recovery has been widely celebrated: at former President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Address, she received a standing ovation and an embrace by the former president.
Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly’s relationship
Giffords is also the wife of Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who was in consideration for Vice President Kamala Harris’ potential running mate.
Giffords and Kelly met on a US-China trade mission in 2003, according to the Arizona Republic . They married in 2007 , when Kelly was still a NASA astronaut and Giffords was in her first term in Congress.
During an interview with USA Today at the Democratic convention Tuesday, Kelly said Giffords introduced him to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in 2007, and that the two have since been friends.
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