Gabrielle Giffords

I was elected six times to represent southern Arizona, in the State Legislature and then in Congress.

Many may look at me and see mostly what I have lost. I struggle to speak, my eyesight's not great, my right arm and leg are paralyzed, and I left a job I loved representing southern Arizona in Congress.

My spirit is as strong as ever. I'm still fighting to make the world a safer place, and you can, too.

Some might consider me an unlikely advocate for gun rights because I sustained terrible injuries in a violent shooting. But I'm a patriot, and I believe the right to bear arms is a definitive part of our American heritage.

I had planned to spend my 40s continuing my public service and starting a family. I thought that by fighting for the people I cared about and loving those close to me, I could leave the world a better place.

In the absence of a Congress ready to act to reduce gun violence, we will keep working to create a different Congress.

Speaking is physically difficult for me.

Music therapy was so important in the early stages of my recovery because it can help retrain different parts of your brain to form language centers in areas where they weren't before you were injured.

While my speech is getting better every day, throughout my recovery, I have been able to sing to some extent.

I've been working hard: lots of therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, yoga too.

Even though many couples are choosing to marry later in life, our laws haven't been updated to address dating partner abuse.

Senators say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets.