On the eighth anniversary of the shooting that nearly ended her life, former Rep. Gabby Giffords is expected to join House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in unveiling proposed legislation that would expand background checks for gun sales and transfers.
The bill expanding background checks "marks a critical first step toward strengthening America's gun laws and making our country a safer place to live, work, study, worship and play," Giffords said. "I stand ready to do everything in my power to get this legislation across the finish line."
Giffords and Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick are also leading a moment of silence on the House floor for the victims of the 2011 shooting in Tucson, when six people were killed and 13 others were injured at a Safeway parking lot where Giffords was meeting with constituents. Giffords was shot in the head.
Giffords, who co-founded a gun safety group with her husband, Mark Kelly, said in a statement Friday she was thrilled that her former House colleagues were responding to a gun-violence epidemic that killed nearly 40,000 people in 2017.
The background checks measure is likely to face opposition from the Republican-controlled Senate and the White House, where President Donald Trump has promised to "protect the Second Amendment."
