Gabby Giffords: Why I'm optimistic about reducing gun violence in America

My life changed forever 12 years ago Sunday when a bullet tore through my brain. In the months that followed, I struggled to walk and talk. My recovery has been long and difficult, but I ultimately beat the odds.

These days, I travel the country giving speeches, do yoga twice a week and play the French horn. I’m grateful to have survived, and I’m committed to always continue my recovery.

Two years after that tragic day outside a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona, where the gunman took six lives, I set out to defy the odds once again. On that solemn anniversary, just weeks after the horrific mass shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, I founded Giffords with the goal of building a gun violence prevention movement more powerful than the gun lobby and shifting the conversation around gun safety.

Over the past decade, we’ve made that mission statement a reality. Yet, with newly divided control in Washington, some are skeptical about the future of gun safety reforms. Those cynics are wrong to lose hope.

Movement to reduce gun violence makes substantial progress

I know from my own journey that when progress happens slowly, it can sometimes feel small. But think about how far the movement has come. When I founded Giffords in 2013, gun safety was a political third rail. Candidates in swing districts, like the one I used to represent, bragged about their endorsements from the National Rifle Association. Fearing public backlash, those who privately supported gun safety often shied away from the issue on the campaign trail.

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In recent elections, a dramatic shift has occurred: Gun safety has become a winning issue for candidates. Now, across the country, voters want stronger gun laws by 2-to-1.

The same is true in battleground states like Pennsylvania, where half the electorate say they'd never vote for a candidate who opposed universal background checks. A new generation of leaders, like Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., has been elected by putting gun violence prevention at the center of their campaigns. And these days, the NRA is in disarray.

This political evolution did not happen by chance. It happened because we worked hard and built a movement of survivors, students, medical professionals and responsible gun owners that is changing hearts, minds and laws.

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Congress passed bipartisan bill to make communities safer

Last year, Congress passed the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years with support from Democrats and Republicans. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act gives states vital funding to enforce extreme risk protection laws, helps keep guns out of the hands of dating partners who commit domestic abuse, puts in place federal laws against gun trafficking and enhances background checks for those under 21.

It also makes the largest ever federal investment in community violence intervention, which will support local organizations with a proven record of intervening in deadly cycles of gun violence.

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Even more encouraging developments are happening in state capitols. Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, Giffords has worked with state legislators to pass more than 525 significant gun safety laws in 49 states. More are on the way.

These reforms range from expanding background checks to requiring safe gun storage and keeping weapons away from those who pose a threat to themselves or others. And the states that have passed the most gun safety laws in the past decade tend to have lower rates of gun deaths.

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Challenges undoubtedly lie ahead. Too many members of the GOP-controlled House are still beholden to the gun lobby. Alarmingly, the Supreme Court majority has embraced a dangerous position on the Second Amendment that runs counter to what most Americans want. But we cannot give up and we cannot back down.

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The organizers, activists and experts I’ve met who are committed to keeping our communities safe feel the same way. In the face of congressional roadblocks, we will encourage President Joe Biden to sign meaningful executive actions. We have already begun building new infrastructure to expand the gun safety movement within states.

We can hold irresponsible gun manufacturers accountable through the courts. And, over the next five years, Giffords will work to unlock $2 billion in federal, state and local funding to help local peacekeepers use evidenced-based strategies to reduce gun violence.

None of this work will be easy, but all of it will be worth the struggle. I’m optimistic about the future because I know what is possible when people who are committed to succeeding refuse to give up hope. That is the story of my recovery and the story of the gun violence prevention movement we’ve built.

Gabby Giffords, a former Democratic U.S. representative from Arizona, was shot on  Jan. 8, 2011, at a constituent event in Tucson. The gunman killed six people and wounded 12 others.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gabby Giffords: How gun violence conversation in America is changing