The founders of Americans for Responsible Solutions—an issue-advocacy organization and political action committee focused on reducing gun violence—will speak at Harvard Law School’s Class Day ceremony on Wednesday May 27.
Gabrielle Giffords, who represented Arizona’s 8th Congressional District from 2007 to 2012, and her husband, Mark Kelly, a retired NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy pilot, founded their PAC in January 2013. Giffords had survived an assassination attempt in 2011 while meeting with her constituents; despite a gunshot wound to the head, she returned to the U.S. House less than seven months after the attack. Although she resigned her seat in 2012 to focus on her continued recovery, she announced upon stepping down, “I will return, and we will work for Arizona and this great country.” Americans for Responsible Solutions represents one dimension of that resolve.
Kelly flew the first of his four NASA missions in 2001 aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, the same shuttle he commanded on its final flight in May 2011. He retired from NASA and the navy half a year after his wife’s injury to assist her recovery.
“This country is known for using its determination and ingenuity to solve problems, big and small...But when it comes to protecting our communities from gun violence, we're not even trying—and for the worst of reasons,” Giffords wrote in an op-ed for USA Today in 2013.
The couple will reportedly speak together at the Law School ceremony.
