Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who survived a gunshot wound to the head three years ago in her native city of Tucson, marked the shooting’s anniversary Wednesday with a New York Times op-ed urging gun control reformers to be persistent.
Giffords wrote that although she was “disappointed” by the Senate’s failure to pass a universal background check bill last year, she believes the reform movement will doggedly press on.
“We’re not daunted,” she wrote. “We know that the gun lobby, which makes money by preventing sensible change, relies on dramatic disappointments to wound us, reduce our power, push us back on our heels.”
“Our fight is a lot more like my rehab,” she continued. “Every day, we must wake up resolved and determined.”
Giffords also revealed in the op-ed that after rigorous physical therapy she was able to regain some movement in her right arm, which was left paralyzed after the shooting. She wants that recovery to serve as a lesson for a gridlocked Congress.
“We will fight for every inch, because that means saving lives,” she wrote. “I’ve seen grit overcome paralysis. My resolution today is that Congress achieve the same.”
Three years after the shooting that almost took my life, I can move my arm again. Grit can overcome paralysis. http://t.co/LuDvqDajO0
— Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) January 8, 2014
