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Giffords to visit victims in Newtown
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) plans to meet with victims of the Sandy Hook shootings on Friday in Newtown, Conn., nearly two years to the day after she survived an assassination attempt.
The former congresswoman and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, plan to meet privately with some of the families of the 26 killed in the elementary school shooting. The event will occur at a private home and is not open to the press, according to NBC News.
Almost two years ago, Giffords was shot at close range outside a grocery store near Tucson, Ariz., during a meet-and-greet with constituents. Six people were killed in the shooting, and Giffords suffered injuries that forced her resignation from Congress last year.
Both Kelly and Bloomberg have been outspoken proponents of increased gun regulations in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting. In a statement, Kelly said leaders "must sound a call for our leaders to stand up and do what is right."
"This time our response must consist of more than regret, sorrow and condolence," Kelly said. "The children of Sandy Hook Elementary School and all victims of gun violence deserve leaders who have the courage to participate in a meaningful discussion about our gun laws — and how they can be reformed and better enforced to prevent gun violence and death in America."
Bloomberg immediately called for increased gun regulations in the wake of the shooting, and has consulted with Vice President Biden, who was tasked with heading up the White House's commission on gun violence. That group will deliver a concrete legislative package intended to curb gun violence by the end of January.
"The task force must move quickly with its work, as 34 Americans will be murdered with guns every day that passes without common-sense reforms to our laws," Bloomberg said in a statement when the group was formed.
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