On Jan. 8, 2011, Democratic Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords was one of nearly 20 people who were shot during a constituent event held in her home state.
Giffords, who was 40 at the time of the shooting, was the intended target of the shooting, which was perpetrated by Jared Lee Loughner. Six of the victims died, including John M. Roll, the chief judge for the United States District Court for Arizona, and Christina-Taylor Green, who was 9 years old. Nineteen people were shot, and another person was injured trying to get away.
On Jan. 22, 2012, Giffords announced her intention to resign so she could focus on recovery. She attended President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address two days later and proceeded to submit her resignation the day after.
Loughner was sentenced in November 2012 to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years, after he pleaded guilty to 19 federal charges in the shooting.
After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting nearly two years after Giffords was shot, she and her husband, Navy veteran and astronaut Capt. Mark Kelly, announced they were forming an organization dedicated to ending gun violence. Originally named Americans for Responsible Solutions, they explained that they “strongly support the Second Amendment, which confers upon all Americans the right to own a gun for protection, recreation, and collection. However, that right also requires basic responsibility, and as a society we are responsible for keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people like criminals, terrorists, and the mentally ill.”
Kelly is currently running for the Senate in Arizona against GOP Sen. Martha McSally.
