What Gabby Said
An Emotional Call to Action on Gun Violence
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.
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http://www.demandaplan.org/gabby
Dear Kevin,
Gabby Giffords made deeply moving opening remarks at today’s Senate hearing on gun violence. This was the first hearing on guns since President Obama stepped forward with his recommendations, and Former Congresswoman Giffords made the most of the opportunity to call on members of Congress to take action now:
“We must do something. It will be hard, but the time is now. You must act. Be bold. Be courageous. Americans are counting on you.”
Please take a minute to watch Gabby Giffords’ powerful speech, and then call on your members of Congress to take action to end gun violence.
Former Congresswoman Giffords and her husband Captain Mark Kelly called on Congress to take immediate action.
Here’s what Congress can do right now to reduce gun violence:
Require a criminal background check for every gun sold in this country.
Stop the sale of military-style assault weapons and high capacity magazines.
Make gun trafficking a federal crime with harsh penalties.
These are simple solutions that will save lives. They don’t interfere with the Second Amendment, and they are popular with the overwhelming majority of Americans — including gun owners and NRA members.
We need to follow Gabby Giffords’ lead and call on Congress to act RIGHT NOW:
http://DemandAPlan.org/Gabby
Thank you for supporting Gabby and calling on Congress to act.
Mark Glaze
Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Kevin,
Our efforts to prevent gun violence just got a big boost. Today, Republican Senator Mark Kirk and I introduced a bill to fight gun trafficking.
This is the first bipartisan action since the tragic shooting in Newtown. It would define gun trafficking as a federal crime, impose stiff penalties on perpetrators and help stop the flow of illegal weapons onto our streets.
We need to pass it. Gaining Senator Kirk’s support is an enormous help, but it does not guarantee success. As you know, any proposed gun law is going to meet stiff resistance in Congress.
That’s why I need you to speak out now in support of this bill. The only way to press forward is by accepting nothing less.
http://action.kirstengillibrand.com/t/12034/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=571
Sign my petition today, and tell members of Congress to pass The Gun Trafficking Prevention Act. Let lawmakers know that you demand action to stop rampant gun violence.
It shouldn’t take the senseless killing of innocent children and teachers to get strong gun laws in place. Now that we’re here, we must do all we can to prevent something like this from happening again.
It’s up to us – all of us.
Sincerely,
Kirsten Gillibrand