WASHINGTON (AP) — Eleven years after her own life was massively altered by gun violence, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords stood in front of the Washington monument and once again lobbied for stricter gun laws.
"Stopping gun violence takes courage, the courage to do what's right," she said.
Giffords was surrounded Tuesday by more than 45,000 small vases of white and orange flowers representing each of the Americans killed by gun violence each year.
Giffords was shot in the head in 2011 while speaking to constituents in a mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six people.
Her long-standing cause has been given fresh momentum by a new string of mass shootings around the country, including at an elementary school in Texas and a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate will vote on gun safety legislation.
"Your message to us is get something done, get something done," Schumer said. "We know we won't get all of it done at once, but get something done."