Astronaut scott kelly wife shot in head

American politician and gun control activist (born 1970)

For the U.S. Navy vessel, see USS Gabrielle Giffords.

Gabrielle Dee Giffords (born June 8, 1970) is an American retired politician and gun control activist. She served as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing Arizona's 8th congressional district from January 2007 until January 2012, when she resigned because of a severe brain injury suffered during an assassination attempt. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to the U.S. Congress.

Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Giffords graduated from Scripps College and Cornell University. After initially moving to New York City, where she worked in regional economic development for Price Waterhouse, she returned to Arizona to work as the CEO of El Campo Tire Warehouses, a family business started by her grandfather. She served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2001 until 2003 and the Arizona Senate from 2003 until 2005 when she was elected to the U.S. House.

She had just begun her third term in January 2011

Wearing a blue bombardier jacket emblazoned with his mission patches, Capt. Mark Kelly, the man who commanded the final flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavor, broke a glass ceiling of sorts by standing before a crowd of mostly women on Thursday and sharing his story of perseverance.

A story not just of his NASA missions — he participated in landmark research with his twin brother and fellow astronaut, Scott Kelly — but of the remarkable message of hope that he and his wife, former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, have shared with people around the world since she survived an assassination attempt in 2011.

Kelly delivered the keynote at the Executive Women of the Palm Beaches’ annual Women in Leadership Awards at the Kravis Center on Thursday, becoming the first man in 33 years to do so.

Asked how it felt to mark that milestone, Kelly said he was surprised and honored, then referred to a letter from Glamour Magazine editor-in-chief Cindy Levy in 2013.

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“It says, ‘Mark, congratulations on being Glamour Woman of the Year,’” Kelly said, smiling. “Gabby and I were Couple of the Year, but they messed up the letter. So I’m a Glamour Woman of the Year.”

Speaking for nearly an hour, Kelly emphasized the importance of communication, strong decision-making and having a plan, both in his space career and in the business world.

But perhaps his most poignant moments came as he described his experiences in the wake of his wife’s shooting.

Six years ago, a gunman shot Giffords in the head from just three feet away as she greeted constituents at a “Congress on Your Corner” community event in Tucson, Ariz. Six people were killed — including a 9-year-old girl — and 12 others wounded.

The former astronaut, who worked as an EMT in New Jersey before joining the Navy to become a fighter pilot and test pilot, said that when Giffords entered Congres

The astronaut brother-in-law of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously injured this month in a shooting in Tucson, Ariz., spoke from the International Space Station this morning about Giffords' recovery and how his family is coping with the tragedy.

"Every time I talk to my brother, it seems like she's making really small steps, which, I think with this type of injury, is really critical," NASA astronaut Scott Kelly told ABC affiliate KTRK Houston. "We're all optimistic about her outcome."

Giffords (D-Ariz.)is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head that she sustained during a violent attackat a local supermarket event in Tucson.

Six people were killed and 12 others were injured in the Jan. 8 shooting.

Giffords remains at the University Medical Center of Tucson, but her condition is said to be improving daily. Over the weekend, doctors upgraded her condition from critical to serious, according to MSNBC.com.

Giffords' husband (and Scott Kelly's twin brother) is NASA astronaut Mark Kelly. He is slated to command the upcoming flight of the space shuttle Endeavour, which is currently scheduled to launch on April 19.

While Mark Kelly is still the commander of the shuttle mission, NASA has named veteran spaceflyer Rick Sturckow to serve as a backup commanderduring training for Endeavour's mission so that Kelly can remain by his wife's side.

As to whether his brother might opt to remove himself from the mission entirely, Scott Kelly said the choice is contingent on several factors.

"It's a decision that he'll make in consultation with the astronaut office and other folks at NASA," Scott Kelly said. "There's a lot to consider. I think he'll make the right decision, and I think he'll also weigh what Gabby would want in this scenario. I think we'll know something about that within a couple weeks."

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With nearly two months to go till the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, the Democrats are already gaining another senator: Arizona’s Mark Kelly, former navy pilot, astronaut and husband to former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously injured by a gunman in 2011.

And crucially, because he won a special election, Mr Kelly is being sworn in right away – incrementally changing the mathematics of the Senate as its members try to strike a coronavirus rescue deal and prepare to hold hearings on Joe Biden’s cabinet picks.

But Mr Kelly’s victory is about much more than the balance of power on Capitol Hill. From his announcement onwards, he has drawn explicitly on the experience of Ms Giffords’s near-murder to make the case not just for himself, but for tougher gun safety laws – this in a state with some of the US’s most hands-off firearms legislation. 

Ms Giffords was attacked in 2011 as she spoke at an event in Tucson. Six others were killed in the incident; the then-congresswoman lost much of her vision in the attack and still has trouble speaking and walking, but appeared in public many times even as she was still recovering. 

Before Mr Kelly took to electoral politics himself, he joined with his wife in campaigning for gun safety across the country, helping found the eponymous national organisation Giffords, which raises money and backs campaigns to end gun violence.

The organisation became a bone of contention during the Senate campaign, with Republican incumbent Martha McSally invoking it at an October debate in an attempt to tie Mr Kelly to the far left. He hit back bluntly.

“The issue of gun violence is personal for Gabby and me,” he said, “and I'll never forget what she went through for that year and a half.” And of the Second Amendment, he had this to say: “Our rights and traditions are so important ... But we can never let a bunch of kids in the cla