Gabby Giffords: Difference between revisions

Though a moderate on the issue during her time in Congress, Giffords has since become an ardent advocate for gun control. In January 2013, she and her husband launched [[Americans for Responsible Solutions]], a non-profit organization and [[Political Action Committee#Super Pacs|Super-PAC]] which later joined with the [[Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence]] to become [[Giffords]]. She is married to former [[Space Shuttle]] Commander [[Mark Kelly]], a [[United States Senate|United States senator]] from Arizona.

 

Gabrielle Dee Giffords was born in and grew up in [[Tucson, Arizona]]; her parents were Gloria Kay (née Fraser) and Spencer J. Giffords. She was raised in a mixed religious environment, as her mother was a [[Christian Science|Christian Scientist]] and her father was Jewish. Her paternal grandfather, Akiba Hornstein, was a Jewish emigrant from [[History of the Jews in Lithuania|Lithuania]] who changed his name to Giffords to avoid [[Antisemitism in the United States|anti-Semitism in the United States]].<ref name="Tucson roots">{{cite news |last1=Stolbert |first1=Sheryl Gay |last2=Yardley |first2=William |title=For Giffords, Tucson Roots Shaped Views |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/us/15profile.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 15, 2011 |access-date=February 24, 2017 |archive-date=March 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321073442/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/us/15profile.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Through her father, Giffords is a second cousin of actress [[Gwyneth Paltrow]] and director [[Jake Paltrow]].<ref name=Paltrow>{{cite web |title=Congresswoman Gifford's Hollywood Connection to Paltrows |url=http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/01/09/congresswoman-giffords-hollywood-connection-to-paltrows |url-status=live |date=January 9, 2011 |access-date=January 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308055440/http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/01/09/congresswoman-giffords-hollywood-connection-to-paltrows |archive-date=March 8, 2013|quote=Gabrielle Giffords' [paternal] grandmother and Gwyneth Paltrow's late [paternal] grandfather were brother and sister.}}</ref>

 

Giffords worked as an associate for regional economic development at [[PwC|Price Waterhouse]] in New York City. In 1996, she became president and CEO of El Campo Tire Warehouses, a local chain of [[Automobile repair shop|auto service centers]] founded by her grandfather. The business was sold to [[Goodyear Tire]] in 2000. At the time of the sale, she commented on the difficulties local businesses face when competing against large national firms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.giffordsforcongress.com/2005/08/17/giffords-lombardi-picked-as-top-young-leaders/ |title=Giffords campaign website |access-date=May 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070421130424/http://www.giffordsforcongress.com/2005/08/17/giffords-lombardi-picked-as-top-young-leaders/<!-- Bot-retrieved archive --> |archive-date=April 21, 2007}}</ref>

 

 

==Arizona legislature==