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Gabby Giffords Pushes Gun Safety Laws in DC and Virginia

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POTOMAC FALLS, Va. (AP) - Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has brought her push for gun-control laws to the nation's capital and a competitive northern Virginia congressional district.

Giffords joined Democratic candidate LuAnn Bennett for a forum on preventing gun violence on Thursday morning. Bennett is challenging Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock in Virginia's 10th District.

Giffords also pushed for new gun laws in Washington on Thursday with Democratic District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Giffords, a Democrat, was wounded in a mass shooting in Tuscon, Arizona, in 2011. She's now pushing for universal background checks for gun purchases, among other gun-control measures.

The National Rifle Association is backing Comstock. NRA spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen says in a statement that Hillary Clinton and other Democrats favor "extreme gun control" that would threaten the right to self-protection.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.