Gabby Giffords: Join your voice with mine

October 17, 2014

The Intelligencer

By Marion Callahan

October 17, 2014- In a dramatic appeal, with difficulty speaking, wounded former Democratic U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle ”Gabby” Giffords urged women’s advocates to help enact tougher curbs on guns, saying, ”Together, we can change our lives. Join your voice with mine.”

The gun-control advocate and co-founder of Americans for Responsible Solutions appeared in Bensalem on Friday at a roundtable discussion with 10 Bucks County domestic violence prevention advocates and women leaders.

After being badly wounded in an assassination attempt in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six people, Giffords became an advocate for gun control.

”Dangerous people with guns are a threat to women,” Giffords said Friday. ”Criminals with guns, abusers with guns, stalkers with guns — make gun violence a women’s issue and family issue, too,” she said. ”We stand for common sense and we stand for responsibility.”

Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane, who spoke at the roundtable, said: ”Whenever we can get together and talk about how to make communities safer, particularly (for) women and families, it’s worth the effort. Giffords is the example and the epitome of a woman harmed by violence; more importantly, she’s a woman who has the strength to carry on and bring forth ideas to make our communities safer for others.”

Giffords is still recovering from the January 2011 gunshot wound she received while meeting with constituents outside a Tucson supermarket. She resigned from Congress to focus on her recovery and rehabilitation.

Mark Prentice, spokesman for Americans for Responsible Solutions, outlined a few of the laws Giffords would like to see changed.

Under the current system, he said: ”An individual who is convicted of domestic abuse could buy a gun at a gun show or online without a background check.”

Giffords wants to close these and other loopholes that allow people who are federally prohibited from owning firearms — including convicted felons and people who’ve been determined by the courts to be mentally ill — from purchasing guns, he said.

She would also like to see lawmakers close what was called the ”stalker gap.” If someone has been convicted of felony stalking, that individual cannot purchase or legally own a gun, Prentice said. However, he added, someone who has been convicted of misdemeanor stalking can pass a background check and buy a gun.

”We would like to see those who are convicted of misdemeanor stalking prevented from accessing firearms,” he said.

Haley Zachary, also with Giffords’ ARS group, said the campaign isn’t about restricting gun use for most gun owners. ”This is about common sense solutions that affect a very small slice of the population of gun owners,” she said.

Nancy Gordon, president of CeaseFire Pennsylvania, urged people to take action by educating themselves on the view of those who represent them on the state and local levels.

”Anyone who cares about reducing gun violence should be aware of their state and federal representatives’ position on sensible gun laws — both for the upcoming election and afterward, while these legislators are representing them,” Gordon said.

Pennsylvania is among nine states on Giffords’ ”Protect All Women Tour,” which kicked off earlier this month. She is also scheduled to meet with domestic violence prevention advocates in Arizona, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon and Washington state.

The tour is aimed at raising awareness about the “lethal mix” of gun violence and domestic violence in the United States, according to a release from the Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC.

Before she left the event on Friday, Giffords clutched the hand of Karen Forbes, thanking her for supporting the cause.

Forbes, executive director of the YWCA Bucks County, said women in her organization and across the county are seeking empowerment, and Giffords exemplified that.

”We are bringing together powerful women who can absolutely do something about keeping women safe so they can achieve their goals,” Forbes said.