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CNN
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Every one of the countless mass shootings that has plagued the United States is its own tragic story, even if they are linked together by guns.
The 2011 shooting of 18 people in a Safeway parking lot in Tucson, Arizona, in which six died, received more attention than most. That shooting fused gun violence and political violence because it was a targeted attack on then-Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head but somehow survived.
A new documentary uses private family video to detail Giffords’ unexpected survival, her struggle to relearn how to speak and her subsequent work as an activist trying to convince gun owners to embrace new gun safety laws.
Watch “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” on CNN at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday, November 20.
I talked to Giffords by email about her life now, her work as an activist and her mission to talk across party lines about guns. That conversation is below.
WOLF: The film opens with a video of you in the hospital in the days and weeks after the shooting. What made you decide to publicly share the video of this very personal and vulnerable time in your life?
GIFFORDS: A few months ago, I received a video from an 11-year-old girl named Marina. She’d had a stroke and now lives with aphasia. She talked about how she’s fighting to get better too. She and her mom shared that they watch “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” when they need inspiration.
Stories like this are why I made that decision, as hard as it is for me to rewatch and relive those moments. Knowing that sharing the personal and sometimes painful details of what happened to me could help someone make it through a challenge in their life – whether it’s related to aphasia or gun violence or something else entirely – that makes it worth it for me.
Of course, it also helped that I trusted Betsy (West) and Julie (Cohen), the film’s directors. I loved “RBG,” and knew that this footage would be in good hands with them. I wasn’t disappointed!
WOLF: It’s clear from the film that you work hard to formulate your thoughts and get help practicing before public speaking. What are some of the challenges you face in doing a…
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