Capitol room dedicated to slain Giffords staffer

Published April 16, 2013

Associated Press

Vice President Joe Biden, Speaker John Boehner and former Rep. Gabby Giffords were on hand to dedicate a room in the Capitol Visitor Center to a congressional staffer killed two years ago in the attack on Giffords that took six lives.

Gabriel "Gabe" Zimmerman was the only staffer ever slain in the line of duty and Boehner pointed out that the meeting room named in his honor was the first room in the Capitol complex to be dedicated to a staff member.

Biden, like other speakers, referred to Monday's bombings at the Boston Marathon in telling the room full of family and friends that it is at the most difficult times that people stand closest together.

Others at the event included Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake.

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Mark Kelly, Gabby Giffords' husband, to testify in support of Colorado gun law

Former astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords, will testify in Colorado Monday in support of one of seven gun control bills, Fox 31 Denver reports.

Kelly will testify in support of House Bill 1229, which would mandate that all private gun sales and transfers are subject to background checks, according to the station.

Kelly testified before Congress earlier this year in support of gun-control measures.

He and Giffords, who was shot in the head outside a Tucson grocery store more than two years ago, have started their own gun control advocacy group, “Americans for Responsible Solutions,” earlier this year to “combat the influence of the gun lobby.”

According to Fox 31, Patricia Maisich, the woman who tackled the Tucson gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, as he was reloading, is also going to be at the Colorado Capitol Monday to testify in support of House Bill 1224, which will ban high-capacity magazines of more than 15 rounds.

Public testimony on each bill will be limited to three hours — 90 minutes for each side.

Click for more from Fox 31 Denver.

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