Gabrielle Giffords, the former congresswoman who survived being shot in the head in an attempted assassination, made an impassioned call for gun control and for citizens to vote during the third night of the Democratic National Convention.
Giffords was first elected to the House of Representatives in the Democratic wave of 2006 and reelected in 2008 and 2010. She was shot during a public meeting for constituents on Jan. 8, 2011, along with 19 other people. Six people were killed, including a federal judge and a 9-year old child. And in her speech, which came after a video honoring the thousands of victims of gun violence in recent years, she used that experience to make a larger point about the importance of the upcoming election.
“I’ve known the darkest of days — days of pain and uncertain recovery. But confronted by despair, I’ve summoned hope. Confronted by paralysis and aphasia, I responded with grit and determination. I put one foot in front of the other. I found one word and then I found another. My recovery is a daily fight. But fighting makes me stronger. Words once came easily; today, I struggle to speak, but I have not lost my voice,” Giffords said on Wednesday night at the virtual convention, appearing after a video reel featuring the testimonies of other victims of gun violence.
“America needs all of us to speak out, even when you have to fight to find the words,” Giffords continued. “We are at a crossroads. We can let the shooting continue, or we can act. We can protect our families, our future. We can vote. We can be on the right side of history.”
Watch her whole speech above, or below:
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