In wake of Georgia shooting, Sen. Mark Kelly says gun control is an issue that’s “very personal to me”

Sen. Mark Kelly said on Thursday that gun control is an issue that’s “very personal” to him in the wake of a shooting at a Georgia high school that left four people dead and nine others wounded.

“This issue is very personal to me and it’s very tragic and it happens way too often in our country,” Kelly said Thursday on “CBS Mornings.” “Parents and children have the right to feel safe in a school.”

The Arizona Democrat is married to former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot in 2011 at a grocery store. She was left severely disabled after the shooting. Kelly and Giffords went on to found a gun control policy organization in her name and became prominent advocates for gun safety, while being gun owners themselves. 

“This issue makes our country stand out in the worst of ways,” Kelly said. 

Kelly, the former astronaut and combat veteran who has represented Arizona in the Senate since 2020, touted efforts that have been made to increase gun safety, including the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which President Biden signed into law in 2022. The law marked the most significant gun control measure to pass through Congress in three decades, expanding background checks, among other things. But Kelly said “we have to do more,” encouraging voters to look into their candidates’ views on gun control before casting their vote.

“You’ve got to hold your elected leaders accountable,” Kelly said. “It’s myself and my colleagues that make the laws — there are folk that are in favor of stronger laws to keep people safer and there are folks that just want guns everywhere and no restrictions on firearms. That’s not the country we should have to live in.”

As for the upcoming presidential election, Kelly, who was on Vice President Kamala Harris’ shortlist to be her running mate, said that for Harris to win in November, her campaign needs to work harder than the other side and have a better message — which he argued she does. 

“The contrast between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump should not be, could not be more clear to the American people about what these two candidates stand for,” Kelly said.