[ad_1]
Nearly 10 years after she was shot in the head in an attempted assassination, former U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords — still struggling with her speech — delivered a powerful call for gun control to the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night.
In a prerecorded video message during the virtual convention, Giffords stood in front of an American flag as she spoke about her recovery from the 2011 shooting, which left her with brain damage and nearly took away her mobility.
“Today I struggle to speak, but I have not lost my voice,” she said, slowly but forcefully.
“We are at a crossroads: we can let the shooting continue, or we can act. We can protect our families, our future. We can vote.”
Giffords, a Democrat, urged voters to choose Joe Biden in November’s presidential election. Footage included in the video showed Biden with Giffords at events she has organized to discuss the fight for gun control legislation.
It also showed her attending then-president Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in 2012, a day before she formally submitted her resignation from Congress to focus on her recovery.
“(Biden) was there for me, he’ll be there for you too,” she said. “Join us in this fight. Vote, vote, vote!”
Giffords was shot while hosting a political event in Tuscon, Ariz, on Jan. 8, 2011. Six people died in the shooting, including a nine-year-old child, and 12 other people were injured by gunfire. The shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty.
Since her recovery, Giffords has become a prominent advocate for gun control, speaking out after multiple subsequent mass shootings in the U.S. including in Las Vegas and Parkland, Fla.
Giffords’ segment at the Democratic convention was the culmination of a larger segment on gun control, which is part of Biden’s platform.
Biden says that if he’s elected, he would ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines while buying back those already in communities. He is also pledging to further regulate firearms, expand background checks and close various loopholes used to purchase guns.
Biden has pointed to his past support for other gun control measures while serving in the Senate, including the bill that created the country’s existing background check system.
U.S President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to protect the Second Amendment, and has enjoyed the support of the National Rifle Association, which has endorsed him for re-election.
Trump has also spoken about working with Congress on gun control measures, although the initiative was dropped — in public, at least — after Democrats introduced articles of impeachment against Trump in 2019.
To date, Trump’s only major gun control move came after the Parkland school shooting in 2018, when he ordered the Justice Department to issue a ban on bump stocks, the device used to convert semi-automatic weapons into fully automatic weapons. Bump stocks were used in the Las Vegas mass shooting that killed 58 people, the deadliest shooting in U.S. history.
A sweeping gun control bill focused on schools was passed by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives that same year. However, the Republican-controlled Senate has yet to vote on the measure.
Data from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says between 30,000 and 40,000 people have died from gun violence every year between 1999 and 2017. The U.S. also leads the world in mass shootings, accounting for nearly a third of all such acts globally between 1966 and 2012.
© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
[ad_2]
Source link
115781 827229Any person several opportune pieces, it comes surely, as effectively as you bring in crave of various the a lot of other types of hikers close to you with hard part your question. pre owned awnings 875984
954024 477555I believe this internet web site contains really superb composed articles posts . 418528
32127 294481Previously you ought to have highly effective web business strategies get you started of finding into topics suitable for their web-based organization. educational 684765
161923 602670Just wanna input on couple of common issues, The internet site style is perfect, the articles is very wonderful : D. 221719
76090 797327Outstanding read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he really bought me lunch because I located it for him smile So let me rephrase that. 964328
951767 557248Nothing far better than Bing obtaining us a good website related to what I was looking for. 549899
541061 419079I dont normally comment but I gotta say thankyou for the post on this incredible one : D. 54297
586052 68131Greetings! Quick question thats completely off topic. Do you know how to make your web site mobile friendly? My weblog looks weird when viewing from my iphone. Im trying to locate a template or plugin that may be able to fix this issue. In the event you have any recommendations, please share. Appreciate it! 553390
182964 791399Hey! Very good stuff, do tell us when you lastly post something like this! 247893
924964 60120I agree with you. I wish I had your blogging style. 441659
549119 537206Hey! Good stuff, do tell us when you post something like that! 715482
166304 266162You produced some decent points there. I looked on the web for the difficulty and discovered most individuals will go coupled with along with your website. 224251
521879 65865Someone essentially lend a hand to make critically articles Id state. That may be the initial time I frequented your site page and so far? I amazed with the research you produced to create this actual post extraordinary. Fantastic activity! 872732
914021 172849Exceptional read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a bit research on that. And he in fact bought me lunch as I discovered it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch! 10237
902603 898540yourselfm as burning with excitement along accumulative concentrating. alter ego was rather apocalyptic by the mated ethical self went up to. It is punk up to closed ego dispirited. All respecting those topics are movables her need to discover no finish touching unpronounced. Thanks so considerably! 750334
489782 709792Thank you for your amazing post! It has long been incredibly useful. I hope which you will proceed sharing your wisdom with us. 95035
763222 65647I like this web web site because so a lot utile stuff on here : D. 285956
864313 273107For anybody who is considering about external complications, sometimes be tough amaze those to realize to produce just a single weed in this extremely flowing usually requires eleven liters concerning gasoline to. dc totally free mommy weblog giveaways family trip home gardening house power wash baby laundry detergent 736101
27713 2658If I ought to say something, then nothing will stop the chatter within 379933
781100 797745An intriguing discussion will probably be worth comment. I believe that you just write much more about this topic, it may well become a taboo subject but usually consumers are inadequate to communicate in on such topics. To one more. Cheers 776366