--- description: Read the letter to U.S. representatives written by former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded in a shooting in 2011 title: Read the Letter Gabrielle Giffords Wrote for the House Sit-In image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06015e333dff9f7e/6988990a5f570fcd36b21724/gabrielle-giffords-letter-sit-in.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read the Letter Gabrielle Giffords Wrote to Former Colleagues for the House Gun Control Sit-In  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 22, 2016 9:21 PM CUT  Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) looks on as democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a "get out the vote" event on Feb. 2, in Hampton, New Hampshire. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) looks on as democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a "get out the vote" event on Feb. 2, in Hampton, New Hampshire.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 22, 2016 9:21 PM CUT During Wednesday’s [House sit-in over gun legislation](http://time.com/4378376/gun-control-house-sit-in-congress-orlando-shooting/?xid=homepage "undefined"), Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz read aloud an emotional letter from [former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords](http://time.com/4372607/gabby-giffords-jo-cox-death/ "undefined"), who was critically wounded in a shooting in 2011. “Fighting gun violence takes great courage,” Giffords wrote. “I’ve seen great courage when my life was on the line. I see great courage in many of you right now.” Read the full letter here: --- > “” --- > [](https://twitter.com/GabbyGiffords/status/745726053050626049) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4379003/gabrielle-giffords-letter-house-sit-in/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4379003/gabrielle-giffords-letter-house-sit-in/"},"headline":"Read the Letter Gabrielle Giffords Wrote to Former Colleagues for the House Gun Control Sit-In","datePublished":"2016-06-22T21:21:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:47:09.952Z","description":"Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz grew emotional while reading it aloud","url":"https://time.com/4379003/gabrielle-giffords-letter-house-sit-in/","keywords":["Congress","Gun Control","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06015e333dff9f7e/6988990a5f570fcd36b21724/gabrielle-giffords-letter-sit-in.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06015e333dff9f7e/6988990a5f570fcd36b21724/gabrielle-giffords-letter-sit-in.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hillary Clinton Begins Final Campaign Push In New Hampshire","caption":"Hillary Clinton Begins Final Campaign Push In New Hampshire","creditText":"Justin Sullivan/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4379003/gabrielle-giffords-letter-house-sit-in/","name":"Read the Letter Gabrielle Giffords Wrote to Former Colleagues for the House Gun Control Sit-In"}}]}] ```