Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords called on lawmakers of both parties to enact gun control measures Wednesday days after the mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night.
“Stopping gun violence takes courage — the courage to do what is right. The courage and new ideas. I’ve seen courage when my life was on the line,” Giffords said. “Now is the time to come together. Be responsible — Republicans, Democrats, everyone.”
“We must never stop fighting,” Giffords said. “Be bold, be courageous. The nation’s counting on you.”
This was Giffords’ second appearance on the Capitol grounds in three days. Hours after the shooting on Monday, Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, appeared to call for a select commission to investigate gun violence, a call that has since been echoed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., opened the program on the east front steps of the Capitol slamming his Republican colleagues for kowtowing to “greed” and campaign donations from the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Giffords and Lewis were flanked by over 100 Democratic members at the brief rally. While Democrats are not overly optimistic they will be able to pass any sort of gun control measures, they hold out a sliver of hope the Las Vegas shooting could be the incident that brings Republicans to the table.
“Cynics will say that if 20 school children getting shot and killed couldn’t force the Republican leadership to run anything, why would this?” Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., told the Washington Examiner. “The fact that this is not only the largest ever in U.S. history, but so exponentially larger … Maybe possibly this will finally be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and at least tighten up our background checks.”
“I remain hopeful, but also frustrated,” Boyle said.
So far, Republicans have not hinted at all about the possibility of enacting any gun measures in the near future. At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., deflected three separated questions about gun control to talk about the GOP push for tax reform.
Many other Republicans have said, simply, that now is not the time to act while victims of the attack remain in recovery. Democrats, however, have repeatedly asked aloud when the right time to act is.
“How many more must die?” Lewis asked at the Wednesday rally.
