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| Gabrielle Giffords |
The hospital said a 9-year-old child was among the killed, and a U.S. Marshal said a federal judge was also fatally shot in the attack.
There are no indications of the gunman's motive, though there's plenty of talk about Giffords having received threats post-healthcare reform. Police say the shooter was in custody, and was identified by people familiar with the investigation as Jared Lee Loughner, 22. Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik described the gunman as mentally unstable and possibly acting with an accomplice.
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A former Republican and a member of the Blue Dog Coalition and New Democrat Coalition, she is considered a fiscal conservative and pro-business. She has been an ardent supporter of increasing border security to halt illegal immigration (her Eighth District is one of 10 in the country bordering Mexico) but has also called for a path to citizenship for workers here illegally.
A backer of veterans’ rights, she serves on the House Committee on Armed Services; a big supporter of solar energy, she is also on the House Committee on Science and Technology and in 2009 was appointed chair of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. She is a longtime gun owner and strong supporter of the Second Amendment. Giffords voted for President Obama’s health care overhaul.
Giffords, 40, is a moderate Democrat who narrowly won re-election in November against a tea party candidate who sought to throw her from office over her support of the health care law. Anger over her position became violent at times, with her Tucson office vandalized after the House passed the overhaul last March and someone showing up at a recent gathering with a weapon.
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