Giffords to stump for Clinton in Iowa this weekend

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) plans to push Hillary Clinton’s Oval Office bid in Iowa during the final weekend before the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses Monday.

Giffords is joining the Democratic presidential front-runner for a rally in Ames on Saturday, according to MSNBC. She plans to appear alongside her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly.

{mosads}The pair will tout Clinton’s “common sense” gun safety measures before canvassing for her in the Hawkeye State.

Giffords and her husband endorsed Clinton in the Democratic primary earlier this month, praising her dedication on the issue.

“Most of the people who run for president talk a lot about how tough they are,” Giffords said on Jan. 11. “But most of them have shown they aren’t tough enough to stand up to the gun lobbyists.

“Only one candidate for president has the determination and toughness to stand up to the corporate gun lobby — and the record to prove it. That candidate is Hillary Clinton.”

Clinton is battling Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to win over Iowa’s caucusgoers heading into Monday’s contest. She leads Sanders by about 2 points in the state, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of surveys.

Giffords and Kelly head Americans for Responsible Solutions, one of the nation’s most vocal gun control advocacy organizations. The former lawmaker has championed tighter firearms restrictions since surviving a mass shooting in 2010. Six were killed and 13 others injured when a gunman opened fire during Giffords’s speech in Tucson, Ariz., Giffords retired from Congress after recuperating from a bullet to the head.

Clinton has repeatedly accused Sanders of siding with the gun lobby during his time in Congress. She has particularly targeted his vote against revoking legal immunity from firearms manufacturers in 2005.