On the last leg of their Gun Control Tour and getting the message out for stricter gun regulations, Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, former Astronaut, Mark Kelly were in Raleigh, NC Sunday.
After the couple had visited a shooting range, they sat down for lunch at The Pit Authentic Barbecue in downtown Raleigh with 14 hand-picked members of the organization she and her husband founded that promotes gun violence prevention called, “Americans for Responsible Solutions”. All are gun owners and are lobbying for expanded background checks. The group is attempting to drum up support at the ‘combat boot’ level by visiting key states that had voted Against background check legislation.
“Gabby and I are both gun owners. I’ve served in the military for 25 years,” Kelly said. “We are strong supporters of the Second Amendment.”
But Second Amendment protections shouldn’t stand in the way of common-sense gun controls, he said.
Kelly stated that they’re not fighting for stricter regulations because His wife was shot, but because of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Ct. which took the lives of 20 children and 6 staff members.
“In six months since Newtown, our national response has been to do nothing,” Kelly said. “It’s unacceptable.”
“We need to do a better job keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, the dangerously mentally ill, the way we do that is we expand background checks to gun shows, private sales and internet sales,” he said.
Of course, pro-gun rights critics were quick to oppose the visit. A group known as, “Grass Roots North Carolina”, criticized the couple for sitting down only with members of their organization rather than reaching out to All gun owners as a whole.
“They own guns, but I don’t believe they represent the majority of gun owners,” said Rick Foster. “I sympathize with (Giffords), but I believe her efforts are misdirected. She’s the victim of someone mentally deranged. Her efforts ought to be focused on helping to improve the mental health system.”
“Why are they hiding from the gun owners they claim to represent?” the group said in a statement Friday.
It should be added as a footnote that the group offered 100 rounds of free ammo to the first person to track down where Giffords would be. Yes, you read it correctly. “Track Down” is how it was reported. (And they wonder why Gabby and Mark didn’t divulge their meeting location).
I Pray for Success to the Gifford-Kelly campaign of Awareness and Change for this Serious and Important regulation to bring about stricter Gun Laws with a No-Brainer approach to background checks.
Too Much Gun Violence. Too Many Deaths. Too Much Talk. “Fight, fight, fight, be bold, be courageous, the nation is counting on you,” Giffords told the crowd. The Time Is NOW Washington!
