Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in Tucson in January 2011, narrates an ad released on Monday calling for universal background checks for gun buyers.

“We have a problem where we shop, where we pray, where our children go to school,” Giffords, whose speech was among her abilities damaged by the shooting, says in the commercial. “But there are solutions we can agree on, even gun owners like us. Take it from me, Congress must act. Let’s get this done.”

The ad is the first to be produced by the gun reform group Americans for Responsible Solutions, which Giffords and husband Mark Kelly founded one month ago after the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

It's designed to draw attention to the issue of gun reform on the eve of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

Giffords and Kelly will attend Tuesday night's State of the Union as guests of Arizona Democratic Rep. Ron Barber, who succeeded Giffords in Congress, and Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.