- She served as the US Representative for Arizona’s 8th congressional district from 2007 until 2012, resigning to focus on her recovery from a severe brain injury sustained during an assassination attempt
- On January 8, 2011, while hosting a "Congress on Your Corner" event in Tucson, Giffords was shot in the head at point-blank range ... the attack killed six people and injured 13 others
- In 2013, Giffords and her husband, Senator Mark Kelly, co-founded the organization now known as GIFFORDS, which advocates for universal background checks and other gun safety measures
- In 2022, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President Joe Biden for her courage and persistent advocacy