Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, whose congressional career was ended by a bullet wound to her head, opened a Senate hearing on gun violence today by telling the panel, "Speaking is difficult, but I need to say something important."
In a determined and forceful voice, she told the Senators to be "courageous" because "Americans are counting on you."
Giffords sat alongside her astronaut husband Mark Kelly as she delivered her emotional statement just over a minute long imploring Congress to act on gun policy.
"This is an important conversation for our children, for our communities, for Democrats, and Republicans," the former Arizona congresswoman said. "Speaking is difficult but I need to say something important: Violence is a big problem too many children are dying. Too many children. 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. Thank you," Giffords said before being helped out of the hearing room.
Giffords was shot by a gunman in her Arizona district two years ago, and was a last-minute addition to the hearing about the nation's gun laws as lawmakers grapple with how to curb gun violence in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., tragedy that left 20 children and seven adults dead late last year.
Today's hearing is a showdown on guns, featuring two powerful but conflicting forces in the gun control movement. Giffords' husband also testified, as did Wayne LaPierre, the fiery executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association.
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Kelly's opening remarks before the Senate Judiciary Committee today emphasized that he and his wife are both gun owners and he has said that he recently bought a new hunting rifle. But he said they are also dedicated to minimizing gun violence because of their personal tragedy.
"We are simply two reasonable Americans who realize we have a problem with gun violence, and we need Congress to act," Kelly said. "Our rights are paramount, but our responsibilities are serious and as a nation we are not taking responsibility for the gun rights our founding fathers conferred upon us."
Kelly said that a top priority should be to close the loophole that says people who buy weapons at gun shows are not required to undergo background checks.
"Closing the gun show loophole and requiring private sellers to require a background check for they transfer a gun…I can't think of something that would make our country safer than doing just that," he told the panel.
Giffords and Kelly recently launched Americans for Responsible Solutions, an organization promoting the implementation of universal background checks and limits on high capacity magazines.
"Overwhelmingly, you told us that universal background checks and limiting access to high capacity magazines were top priorities, and I'll make sure to address each of those ideas in my opening remarks," Kelly wrote in an email to supporters Tuesday. Kelly asked the group's allies to sign a petition calling on Congress to pass legislation on both issues.
LaPierre laid out the NRA's opposition to universal background checks and urged legislators not to "blame" legal gun owners by enacting new gun control laws.
"Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violence of deranged criminals. Nor do we believe the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families," LaPierre said."And when it comes to background checks, let's be honest – background checks will never be 'universal' – because criminals will never submit to them."
"If you want to stop crime, interdict violent criminals incarcerate them and get them off the streets," LaPierre said.
He repeated an NRA proposal to place armed security guards in every school in America, arguing that "it's time to throw an immediate blanket of security around our children."
