Gabby Giffords Walks On Stage Without Assistance, Addresses DNC To Standing Ovation

PHILADELPHIA Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot in the head during a massacre five years ago, addressed the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, saying presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will push to reduce gun violence.

“Hillary is tough. Hillary is courageous. She will fight to make our families safer. In the White House, she will stand up to the gun lobby,” Giffords said. Her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, introduced her.

Giffords headlined a gun control rally  in Philadelphia Tuesday and her political action committee, Americans for Responsible Solutions, threw a party featuring the performer Kesha .

Clinton supports strengthening gun laws , including requiring universal background checks for firearms purchases and making it illegal for domestic abusers to buy guns.

Gun violence has been a major theme during the DNC. Tuesday featured appearances by the “Mothers of the Movement,”  a group of women whose children were killed with guns, including Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother.

Giffords sustained a severe brain injury when a shooter, who murdered six other people, tried to assassinate her  during a public appearance at a grocery store in 2011. She retired from Congress the following year.

“Speaking is difficult for me. But come January, I want to say these two words: ‘Madame President,’” Giffords said.