Giffords raises funds for better gun control

She and her astronaut husband Mark Kelly said their Americans for Responsible Solutions initiative would help raise money to support greater gun control efforts.

It will “raise funds necessary to balance the influence of the gun lobby”, they said in an article for USA Today.

Last week they visited Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were killed in one of the deadliest school shootings.

The push was launched on the second anniversary of the Tucson shooting that left Ms Giffords critically wounded and cut short her career in Washington.

President Barack Obama’s administration was calling gun owner groups, victims’ organisations and representatives from the video-game industry to the White House this week for talks on potential policy proposals for curbing gun violence.