Gabby Giffords calls on Congress to 'find the courage' to address gun violence
WASHINGTON — Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot at a 2011 constituent meeting in Tucson, had a short but direct statement for her former colleagues Monday in response to Sunday night's mass shooting in Las Vegas.
"The nation's counting on you," she said in her only remarks at a news conference before turning and pointing her fist at the U.S. Capitol behind her.
At least 58 people were killed and 515 more were wounded at an outdoor concert when a gunman opened fire from a hotel room above in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Earlier, the Arizona Democrat issued a statement calling on members of Congress once again to have the "courage" to address gun violence.
Giffords said in a statement, "I know this feeling of heartbreak and horror too well," adding that that she prays for the victims, their families and friends — as well as her former colleagues.
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"I am praying they find the courage it will take to make progress on the challenging issue of gun violence," she said. "I know they got into politics for the same reason I did — to make a difference, to get things done. Now is the time to take positive action to keep America safer. Do not wait. The nation is counting on you.”
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Giffords' husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, said he and his wife are "heartbroken" and "angry," and the "thoughts and prayers" being offered by the White House and members of Congress aren't enough.
"Your thoughts and prayers aren’t going to stop the next shooting," Kelly said. "Only actions and leadership will do that."
Democrats joined the call for new congressional action on guns, led by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., whose statement saying "It's time for Congress to get off its ass and do something" generated a firestorm on social media.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Senate Judiciary Committee's top-ranking Democrat, told USA TODAY she expects to join some of her colleagues next week to discuss next steps.
"This incident is so terrible and so many people’s lives are lost, and for anybody to have this stack of weaponry, automatic, really, weapons of war that can fire 400 yards and kill people, some of us are going to next week hopefully get together and talk a little bit about this," the California senator said. "But right now, I think we’re all in shock."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, urged House Speaker Paul Ryan in a letter to create a select committee on gun violence, writing that Congress has a "moral duty" to act.
"Today is a day for prayer, mourning and love, but it must also be a day for action," the California Democrat wrote. "As members of Congress, our words of comfort to the families of the victims of the Las Vegas massacre will ring hollow unless we take long overdue action to ensure that no other family is forced to endure such an unimaginable tragedy.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee announced it would begin sending fundraising emails to its 1 million members for lawmakers who "stand up" to the National Rifle Association.
The 2011 shooting at Giffords’ “Congress on your Corner” event killed six of her constituents and wounded 12 others. It was the first assassination attempt on a member of Congress meeting with constituents.
Giffords and Kelly, who are both gun owners, co-founded the gun-control group Americans for Responsible Solutions.
As a first step, Kelly called for Congress to appoint a bipartisan special commission on gun violence. He said Congress should also push for universal background checks, stop domestic abusers from getting guns and subject the sale of the most lethal weapons to stronger oversight and regulations.
Kelly said Congress has done nothing to respond to gun violence and instead is working on legislation to weaken gun laws. One NRA-backed measure moving through Congress would make it easier to get "silencers" by removing them from the National Firearms Act. They would still have to pass an instant background check, as they would with any firearm.
Guns equipped with "silencers" still make a loud blast, but gun-control groups say suppressing a gun's noise won't help alert people to run in the event of a crime. They argue the silencer measure would allow dangerous people to buy silencers without a background check, just by finding an unlicensed seller.
"Imagine how much worse last night’s shooting could have been if this gunman had a silencer?" Kelly said. "Imagine the confusion for first responders if they arrived on the scene to a bunch of civilians wielding their own guns, attempting to return fire?"
