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VAIL, Ariz. (KGUN) - On a bright and blustery Southern AZ day, sitting at the Gabe Zimmerman trailhead, a special place of healing and deep community memory in Tucson, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords and Sen. Mark Kelly marked 15 years since the 2011 shooting that nearly killed Giffords, remembered the lives lost and made a blunt, hopeful case for the practical work their organization Giffords has been doing to reduce gun violence.
I got a chance to sit down and get personal with the couple where they talk about their recent accomplishments - and each other. The conversation steered quickly from the personal — Giffords’ recovery, family moments and music therapy — to the political and policy-focused work of Giffords, the gun safety organization she leads. Kelly, who has been by Giffords’ side since the attack and her recovery, said plainly that the group’s work is “saving lives,” and described the organization as a disciplined team that has produced measurable results.
“They’re saving lives, especially the lives of kids,” Kelly said, citing the organization’s long-term push for universal background checks, extreme-risk (red flag) laws, safe-storage measures and efforts to keep guns from felons and domestic abusers. As gun owners themselves, the two stressed that the effort is not about taking away responsibly owned guns but about common-sense steps that reduce harm.
Giffords and Kelly pointed to a combination of state-level victories and federal progress as evidence the strategy is working. They noted that research and the organization’s advocacy have helped shape hundreds of laws and reforms at state and local levels, and that federal steps — such as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022 and actions to curb ghost guns and bolster community violence intervention funding — represent meaningful progress, even as they underscored how far the country still has to go.
The interview was grounded in stark realities. Kelly recalled the night of the shooting, and Giffords reflected on an America where children already live with lockdowns and fear. “Kids shouldn’t have to live like this,” she said, referring to a recent lockdown her four-year-old granddaughter experienced after nearby campus violence. The pair compared U.S. gun-death totals to those in other developed nations, comparing the U.S. to Yemen, in particular, and arguing that policy choices produce dramatic differences in outcomes.
Said Kelly, "States that have stronger laws, a lot less people get shot and killed...if you have background check laws, red flag laws, things like that, people are safer, clearly."
Despite the urgency, the duo returned repeatedly to two themes: hope and persistence. “Never give up,” Giffords urged toward the end of the conversation. Kelly echoed that message, pointing to the organization’s staff, strategy and long game. At one point Kelly offered a striking measure of Giffords’ influence: the pair estimated the organization’s efforts have contributed to vast volumes of legislation and reform — a testament, they said, to sustained organizing and legal work.
The interview closed on a personal note that underlined why the fight matters. Kelly called Giffords “my best friend” and said what he sees in her now is “the same Gabby I saw when we first got married… somebody who does things for the right reason.” Giffords returned the praise, calling Kelly “funny” and saying she is proud of his work. When asked what she sees when she looks at him, she responded, 'Hope." Their pride, they said, rests on practical outcomes: children safer at school, communities better protected and the slow but steady narrowing of the gap between the U.S. and other nations on gun deaths.
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For now, their policy wish list remains familiar: a federal universal background-check bill, wider adoption of red-flag laws, stronger safe-storage requirements and continued enforcement against illegal weapons. But the overriding message was less about a single law than about endurance — sustained organizing, legal challenges, legislative drafting and local work that the two say can and does produce safer communities.
If anything came through in plain terms at the trailhead, it was this: for Giffords and Kelly, the personal and the political are inseparable — and their response to tragedy has been a long, organized effort driven by hope and daily hard work.
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