Tag Archives: Mark Kelly

May 6, 2013 · 1:39 PM

Gabrielle Giffords Honored With John F. Kennedy Profile In Courage Award

Finally, some  good news.

Not only does Gabrielle Giffords deserve the award for her fight against irresponsible gun laws but also because she fought her way back from a horrific battle for her life after being one of several victims shot at an outdoor town hall she was about to conduct.  Honorable mention goes to Gabby’s devoted husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly who has stood by her side and encouraged her all the way back from what appeared to be a very long rehabilitation.

The Huffington Post

Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Sunday, asking the U.S. Congress to act more courageously on the issue of gun control.

“We all have courage inside,” Giffords, who herself survived being shot in 2011, said at the Kennedy Library in Boston. “I wish there was more courage in Congress. Sometimes it’s hard to express it.”

The remarks come just a few weeks after the U.S. Senate voted down a measure to expand background checks for gun buyers, a step favored by U.S. President Barack Obama and most Americans.

An online Reuters/Ipsos poll released in January showed that 86 percent of those surveyed favored expanded background checks of all gun buyers.

Giffords, a Democrat, was shot in the head when a gunman opened fire on a congressional outreach event in Tucson in January 2011, killing six people and wounding a dozen others. She resigned from Congress a year after the shooting to focus on her recovery.

Following the attack in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 26 people at an elementary school in December, Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, founded a lobby group aimed at curbing gun violence and challenging the political clout of the well-funded gun lobby.

Before the awards ceremony on Sunday, Giffords and Kelly visited victims of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing who are recovering at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

The award, named for President Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Profiles in Courage,” was presented to Giffords by foundation president Caroline Kennedy. (Reporting by Aaron Pressman; Editing by Chris Reese)

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March 26, 2013 · 9:01 PM

Gun shop blocks Mark Kelly’s right to buy AR-15, citing political ‘intent’

Official NASA photo of Kelly

Mark Kelly is married to  former AZ Congress woman Gabby Giffords.  He is an accomplished man in his own right and he is a responsible gun owner.

Naval career        NASA career

The Raw Story

The owner of a gun shop in Tucson, Arizona on Monday refused to hand over an AR-15 military-style rifle that Mark Kelly purchased in order to demonstrate how easy it was to obtain assault weapons.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Diamondback Police Supply owner Doug MacKinlay said that he was blocking the former astronaut’s Second Amendment right because he questioned the political “intent” behind the purchase.

“While I support and respect Mark Kelly’s 2nd Amendment rights to purchase, possess, and use firearms in a safe and responsible manner, his recent statements to the media made it clear that his intent in purchasing the Sig Sauer M400 5.56mm rifle from us was for reasons other then for his personal use,” MacKinlay wrote.

Kelly, who is the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), said that he had purchased the rifle to show how easy it was to pass a background check. The effort was part of his push for more gun control in response to his wife’s shooting and other recent mass shootings.

A weapon similar to the Sig Sauer M400 was used last year to gun down 20 elementary school children in Newtown, Connecticut.

MacKinlay promised to refund all of Kelly’s money and raffle the weapon off to support the Arizona Tactical Officers Association.

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January 31, 2013 · 5:41 PM

Behind the Scenes with Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly: January 30th 2013

Gabby and Capt. Mark Kelly are the epitome of the term: power couple.  Not in the colloquial version of the term but in the literal interpretation.  This couple intends to have a voice in the gun control debate.  I personally support them and their Americans for Responsible Solutions effort 100%.

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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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· 1:07 PM

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Opening Statement (C-SPAN)

Gabby Gifford’s compelling statement in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on gun violence, today:

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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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June 13, 2011 · 2:27 AM

Gabby Giffords Office Releases First Photos Of Congresswoman Since Shooting

She has miraculously bounced back from that horrific shooting in Arizona almost five months ago.  Here are recent pictures of her after her incredible fight to recover from a gunman’s bullet:

TPMDC

The office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who has been undergoing medical treatment since she was shot in the head at a district event this past January, has now released onto Facebook the first official photos of the Congresswoman since the incident.

The photos were taken on May 17, the day after the launch of the space Shuttle Endeavour commanded by her husband Mark Kelly, and the day before she underwent a cranioplasty surgery to replace part of her skull with a plastic implant. One of the photos is a solo picture of Giffords, facing the camera and smiling. The other shows the Congresswoman accompanied by her mother, Gloria Giffords, and both smiling.

                                      

The photos were accompanied by a statement from the photographer, Arizona photojournalist and Giffords friend P.K. Weis:

“Any photographer in the country would have loved the opportunity to take these pictures and I was delighted to be asked. I’ve known Gabby for more than a decade and her staff asked me to do it because she wanted someone who was not a stranger – someone she would be comfortable around. The photos were taken in her room and in an outside area of the hospital.

“In addition to the congresswoman, her mother, one of her staff members and a close friend were there. Doctors and nurses also came in and out.”

It was very inspiring to see how much she had recovered in 4½ months. I was excited to see her and to see her smile. She was glad to see me, was in a good mood, smiling and laughing and seemed to enjoy the experience. I certainly did, too.”

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January 17, 2011 · 2:41 PM

HuffPo: Gabrielle Giffords Smiled In Hospital, Husband Says (LATEST UPDATES)

I am inclined to believe that Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords will be making a complete recovery, based on her remarkable progress in just one week.

ABC Promotional Clip of interview with Mike Kelly, Congresswoman Giffords’ astronaut husband:

Huffington Post

Doctors have successfully performed a surgery on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ eye socket to remove bone fragments as the wounded congresswoman showed more signs of improvement.

There were no complications from the surgery, and Giffords is improving so much that she was able to give her husband a back rub.

Dr. Randall Friese said Mark Kelly also told doctors he saw Giffords smile. He said sometimes people see what they want to see, but that “if he says she’s smiling, I buy it.”

Giffords still cannot speak because of a tracheotomy done so the breathing tube could be removed from her mouth.

Dr. Michael Lemole says the eye operation entailed making an incision above the eyebrow, removing bone chips to relieve pressure and reconstructing the roof of the socket.

Today 1:37 PM ET Smiling

The AP reports:

TUCSON, Ariz. — Doctors have successfully performed a surgery on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ eye socket to remove bone fragments as the wounded congresswoman showed more signs of improvement.

There were no complications from the surgery, and Giffords is improving so much that she was able to give her husband a back rub.

Dr. Randall Friese said Mark Kelly also told doctors he saw Giffords smile. He said sometimes people see what they want to see, but that “if he says she’s smiling, I buy it.”

Giffords still cannot speak because of a tracheotomy done so the breathing tube could be removed from her mouth.

Dr. Michael Lemole says the eye operation entailed making an incision above the eyebrow, removing bone chips to relieve pressure and reconstructing the roof of the socket.

Today 11:26 AM ET Giffords’ Husband: She Gave Me A Back Rub At Hospital

Mark Kelly, the husband of Rep. Giffords, will give his first interview on Tuesday night. ABC has released excerpts of the interview, and in one portion Kelly says that Giffords is now able to give him a back rub:

“[It is] so typical of her. She’s in the ICU. You know, gone through this traumatic injury. And she spent 10 minutes giving me a neck massage. I keep tellin’ her. I’m like, ‘Gabby, you’re in the ICU. You know, you don’t need — you know, you don’t need to be doin’ this.’ But it’s so typical of her that no matter how bad the situation might be for her, you know, she’s lookin’ out for other people.”

The astronaut also says he is “probably” willing to meet with the parents of alleged shooter Jared Loughner:

“I’d probably see them. You know, I don’t think it’s their fault. It’s not the parents fault. You know, I’d like to think I’m a person that’s, you know, somewhat forgiving. And, I mean, they’ve got to be hurting in this situation as much as much as anybody.”

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January 14, 2011 · 7:49 AM

The Astronaut By Her Side

Politico

NASA’s selection Thursday of a backup commander for astronaut Mark Kelly served as a reminder that the shooting in Tucson affected another community nearly as much as Capitol Hill — the one affiliated with America’s manned space programs.

For critically injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and Kelly had become the first couple of space exploration, a unique, high-profile team that took to the national stage as some of the most critical decisions in the history of U.S. human spaceflight were on the agenda.

The partnership between the lawmaker and the space shuttle commander, who had been scheduled to lead a flight in April, added a glamorous sheen to a venture whose luster had dimmed. But more important, the relationship between the two had significant political and policy implications as the nation undertook its first major debate over manned spaceflight since the end of the Apollo program that sent Americans to the moon.

The marriage between Giffords, a rising political star, and Kelly, a veteran of three space shuttle missions and a decorated Navy combat pilot, took place just months after she was first sworn in as a House member in 2007, and it marked Giffords as the only lawmaker ever to watch a spouse launched into space.

“It gave her an insider’s view of the space program and gave her an opportunity to really know a different side of the space program than any of us ever had an opportunity to know,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), a close friend of Giffords and Kelly, told POLITICO on Tuesday.

More…

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