Gabby Giffords Calls For Stricter Gun Laws After Las Vegas Mass Shooting

Gabby Giffords, the ex-Arizona congresswoman maimed in a grisly Tucson shooting, pled on Monday for stricter federal gun laws after an armed assault left at least 58 people dead Sunday night in Las Vegas.

“The nation’s counting on you,” she said in a press conference in front of the United States Capitol, in brief comments along with her husband Mark Kelly. Kelly, a retired astronaut, spoke for most of the time, given Giffords’ traumatic brain injury, which makes speech difficult.

Giffords and Kelly have exhorted state and federal lawmakers to restrict guns since she was attacked in 2011 by Jared Lee Loughner at a congressional town hall meeting.

Their proposals have included stronger background checks to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from obtaining guns - as well as limiting the size of magazines in guns. The couple also started a group known as Americans for Responsible Solutions.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon