Amid Gun Debate, Giffords Returns to Capitol to Honor Staff Member

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Former Representative Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, met with Senators Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, sponsors of a background check amendment to gun safety legislation, on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

As the Senate prepares to start voting on gun safety measures this week, one of Congress’s most visible symbols of gun violence appeared in the Capitol on Tuesday to help rally support for her cause.

Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who was shot in the head at a constituent event in Tucson, came for a series of meetings with senators to lobby for stricter gun laws and to attend a dedication ceremony to honor one of her staff members, Gabriel Zimmerman, who was killed in the 2011 shooting.

The timing of the ceremony was coincidental. But the event nonetheless was a powerful reminder of how personal the issue of gun control is for some, and how deeply it divides people.

The House speaker, John A. Boehner, an opponent of legislation to tighten gun restrictions, led the event honoring Mr. Zimmerman. He broke down in tears as he told the crowd of several hundred who gathered in the newly christened Gabriel Zimmerman Meeting Room, “It is a stirring tribute and, I think, a fitting one too.”

But he made no mention of the gun debate that has split his colleagues.

Mark E. Kelly, who is Ms. Giffords’s husband and has become a leading gun control advocate, was not so circumspect. “Gabby and I have obviously gotten very involved in the current discussion about whether everyone should have a background check before buying a firearm,” he said.

“In the realm of that discussion,” he continued, “some people say that a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun. I always remind people that there was a good guy with a gun at the Safeway that morning. But in the chaotic 15 seconds that unfolded where 33 rounds were shot, he didn’t have any time to react.”

Ms. Giffords, who still struggles to speak because of her injuries, made some short comments. Mr. Kelly, who explained to the crowd how his wife had asked him to speak for her, said that some days were easier than others.

Ms. Giffords, smiling, chimed in, “Good ones, bad ones.”