Tag Archives: Giffords

January 30, 2013 · 11:22 PM

An Emotional Call to Action on Gun Violence (TFC Evening Wrap-up)

What Gabby Said

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in the head two years ago this month in a shooting that also left six of her constituents dead, including a nine year-old girl. In the wake of the Newtown gun massacre, Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, founded Americans for Responsible Solutions, a group that “will encourage elected officials to stand up for solutions to prevent gun violence and protect responsible gun ownership.”

Today the Senate Senate Judiciary Committee, which is expected to begin formal work on a gun violence prevention bill in the next month, held a hearing that opened with a statement from Giffords. Giffords told the senators that “the time is now,” they “must act,” and must “be bold.”

Watch Giffords challenge senators to deal with America’s gun violence epidemic:

Giffords’ handwritten testimony:

BOTTOM LINE: Gabby Giffords is right. Americans are counting on our political leaders to summon the courage to take commonsense steps to address the gun violence epidemic that results in 33 Americans being murdered each and every day.

The Progress Report

The study the NRA’s top Washington lobbyist hopes you won’t actually look up.

Teenager who performed at the Inauguration last week was gunned down yesterday in Chicago.

Senator catches the NRA’s top Washington lobbyist in an epic flip-flop on background checks.

GOP senator: people need to arm themselves because GOP-forced budget cuts will mean fewer cops.

Missouri bill would force all first-graders to take NRA-sponsored gun class.

Communism, polygamy, and human cloning are more popular than NRA lobbyists’ position on gun violence.

Republican witness claims mothers need an AR-15 assault rifle to defend their children.

Meet the nine year-old girl who would likely still be alive today if high-capacity magazines were illegal.

Another shooting happened as the Senate held its hearing on gun violence.

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November 16, 2011 · 1:52 PM

Mark Kelly, Gabrielle Giffords’ Husband, Knocks John Boehner In New Memoir

One has to wonder if Speaker Boehner is operating with a full deck…

The Huffington Post

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ husband came out swinging against House Speaker John Boehner over his decision not to visit the injured congresswoman.

In the couple’s new joint memoir, “Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope”, Mark Kelly expressed his disappointment in Boehner’s efforts to check in on Giffords.

“Considering that she was a member of Congress and he was the highest-ranking member, we thought he’d ask to visit Gabby or at least give a call to see how she was doing,” Kelly writes, via The Hill. “Our only contact with him had been a simple get-well card he’d sent a few days after Gabby was injured.”

While Boehner did not make a formal visit, The Hill adds that he did send a get-well card. Boehner made his views clear on the security situation surrounding the shooting. Back in late January, Boehner told “Fox News Sunday” that increased security might not have been enough to prevent the incident.

“We’re out in the public. We’re talking to our constituents, out talking to the American people,” he said. “We have a very open society in America. There is risk with our job.”

Despite that danger, Giffords vows to return to Congress in the book, writing: “I will get stronger. I will return.” The memoir is told mostly from Kelly’s perspective, but the last chapter is written by Giffords herself.

Tuesday’s book release represents one part of the couple’s busy week. On Monday, Giffords did her first television interview since being shot, telling ABC News’ Diane Sawyer that her recovery was “difficult” but she felt “pretty good.”

Giffords showcased similar spirits in a recorded message released on Tuesday. She delivered positive words to her Southern Arizona constituents, telling supporters that she misses them.

“I’m getting stronger,” the Congresswoman said. “I’m getting better.”

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January 14, 2011 · 7:40 AM

Tucson Tea Party Leader Blames Gabrielle Giffords for Getting Shot

This can’t be good from any perspective…

Moral Low Ground

Tucson Tea Party co-founder Trent Humphries has disgustingly blamed US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords for her own shooting. “It’s political gamesmanship,” he explained to Britain’s Guardian. “The real case is that she [Giffords] had no security whatsoever at this event. So if she lived under a constant fear of being targeted, if she lived under this constant fear of this rhetoric and hatred that was seething, why would she attend an event in full view of the public with no security whatsoever?”

That’s not all. In addition to the six people murdered by gunman Jared Loughner last Saturday, including a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge, Humphries says there is another victim of the massacre: the Tea Party movement, and Humphries himself. He says the tragic killings are “evolving into a conspiracy” to destroy the Tea Party and silence criticism of the government.

Unfortunately, enemies of the Tea Party have been using the same militant, threatening rhetoric against Humphries as his organization is notorious for. “Too bad it wasn’t your family that was killed,” one said. “We hate you and we’re going to stand against you and we’re going to use our First and Second Amendment rights to stop you,” vowed another. The local sheriff has warned Humphries to avoid public places; he won’t be attending tonight’s memorial service for the victims of Saturday’s slaughter.

Watch:

Speaking of Tea Party reaction to the tragedy in Tuscon, AZ:

Roy Sekoff On GOP Dilemma: Tea Party Delivers Both ‘The Energy And The Crazy’

[...]

“What we’ve seen from the Tea Party and Sarah Palin is that they excel at playing the victim,” Sekoff said. “The danger there is that since they feel so victimized, they’re just going to get louder, and they’re going to ratchet it out, and they’re going to make more outrageous comments like we’ve seen right there.”

Sekoff explained that the popularity of the Tea Party movement exemplifies the divide between traditional conservative values and the radical right currently at work within the Republican party. “This really speaks to the identity crisis the GOP is facing right now,” he said.

Sekoff continued, “The energy and the dynamism is really with the Tea Party, but so is all the crazy and the outrage. And that’s where the danger lies.”

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