ICYMI: Gabby Giffords writes Speaker Johnson on gun violence prevention after he declined call

WASHINGTON —  In case you missed, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, founder of the national gun violence prevention organization GIFFORDS, sent Speaker Mike Johnson a letter urging him to work with her to find bipartisan solutions after a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana. Congresswoman Giffords reached out after the shooting to offer support and asked for a conversation to discuss actions to prevent future tragedies, but Speaker Johnson refused to speak. She then sent a letter to Speaker Johnson urging him to act. 

The letter was shared exclusively with NOTUS:

First on NOTUS: Gabby Giffords, a former House Democrat from Arizona,tried to speak with Mike Johnson after a recent mass shooting in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, but he declined.Giffords, who survived her own shooting to become one of the country’s most prominent advocates for gun-violence prevention, reached out to the speaker this week after the horrifying incident, NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz reports. 

“I want us to work together to ensure it never happens again. I mourn for your constituents, as I trust you do, and I know there are bipartisan reforms that can save lives,” Giffords wrote Johnson in a letter dated Wednesday. “I hoped to discuss this with you on the telephone and was disappointed when you declined my request.”

Johnson’s office did not respond to a request for comment.