The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing Wednesday morning on gun violence. National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and her husband, retired Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, will give testimony at the hearing.
Giffords, who was shot in the head during an event in Tucson, Ariz., in January, 2011, announced earlier this month that she and Kelly were forming a political action committee to go up against the political spending of groups like the NRA.
In a
USA Today op-ed introducing the organization, Giffords and Kelly said that while they are gun owners and support the Second Amendment, they believe laws should "require responsible gun ownership and reduce gun violence."
"Until now, the gun lobby's political contributions, advertising and lobbying have dwarfed spending from anti-gun violence groups. No longer," the pair wrote. "With Americans for Responsible Solutions engaging millions of people about ways to reduce gun violence and funding political activity nationwide, legislators will no longer have reason to fear the gun lobby."
According to his scheduled testimony, LaPierre will tell lawmakers that lax enforcement of existing laws. combined with holes in the mental health system. have led to the rash of mass shootings that have plagued the country in recent years. He is expected to reiterate the NRA's call for armed guards in every school when he testifies.
Also testifying are Nicholas Johnson, professor of law at Fordham University in New York; James Johnson, chief of police for Baltimore County, Md., and chairman of the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence; and Gayle Trotter, attorney and senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum, according to C-SPAN.
