Rekha Basu

Gabby Giffords came to Des Moines recently to talk with women about gun safety. But after a few opening sentences, the former congresswoman from Arizona didn't speak again. And that fact spoke louder than anything anyone could have said about the need to keep guns out of the wrong hands.

It was nearly three years ago that Giffords, now 44, was shot in the head while holding a public meeting with constituents outside a Tucson supermarket. At first it was unclear if she would survive — six other people at the scene did not — and then, if she'd be able to read or write, walk or talk.

She walks with a cane now. When there is something to applaud, she does it by slapping one hand against a knee; the other is paralyzed. She still has trouble talking due to a condition called aphasia, which sometimes makes it hard to understand speech or writing, or to call up the right words. It's associated with strokes and head injuries.

It happened to "Gabby" because a mentally ill man with a history of drug abuse who spouted conspiracy theories and didn't think women should hold political office could buy a 9mm pistol from a sportsmen's store and fire on a crowd.

"Dangerous people with guns are a threat to women," Giffords said firmly but haltingly Tuesday. "Criminals with guns, abusers with guns, stalkers with guns. That makes gun violence a women's issue — for mothers, for families, for me and you."

Giffords is on a nine-state tour with the organization she co-founded with her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly (both gun owners) called Americans for Responsible Solutions. They did so after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. Its fact sheet explains why this is a women's issue:

• Women in America are 11 times more likely to be killed by a gun than women in other advanced industrialized countries.

• In the 12 years ending in 2013, more U.S. women were killed by intimate partners using guns — close to 6,500 — than U.S. troops were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

• The risk of death in a domestic dispute increases fivefold when a gun is available.

This is the time of year organizations flock to Iowa to lobby voters to take up their issues. It might be human services spending, the federal debt, climate change or agricultural subsidies. But it was clear from this panel of Iowa women, in law enforcement, domestic-violence prevention, human and civil rights, that this is already an issue for them.

The group's immediate priority is fixing weaknesses in federal and state laws. At the federal level, even though people convicted of domestic abuse and felony stalking can't legally buy guns, those convicted of misdemeanor stalking can. And the domestic abuser prohibition doesn't apply to dating relationships, though in 2008 almost half of domestic violence homicides were committed against someone who was or had been a dating partner. No background checks are required for gun shows or Internet gun buys, so even convicted abusers or other people legally barred can buy guns.

Proposed fixes to the law also would prohibit people under temporary restraining orders from owning firearms, expand federal background checks and improve domestic violence records submissions to the national crime database.

The Iowa chapter of another gun-safety group, Moms Demand Action, has state-specific priorities. Iowa is one of 29 states where convicted stalkers can buy and own guns, volunteer Amber Gustafson says. Iowa law also should require criminal background checks for private shotgun and rifle sales. State law requires them only for sales of handguns. But Moms Demand Action says nearly one in five women shot to death by an intimate partner was killed with a shotgun or rifle.

At the Des Moines library, Giffords listened as women talked about gun violence situations, polls and loopholes. She nodded, wrinkled her forehead and applauded as the situation demanded. But she didn't talk. I returned to the office stirred by her determination despite the horrible reality of what was done to her, only to get another reality check — a news release from the organization Iowa Gun Owners.

"Gun-grabbers will only be more emboldened if they can attack our gun rights in the legislative session and feel no push-back in their districts when election season comes along," it said. So it was distributing scorecards of how every state legislator had voted on guns. "Gun-control zealots in Iowa are learning a painful lesson," the release said. "If you come after our gun rights, you will be held accountable."

Painful? They don't understand the meaning of that word. They should meet Gabby Giffords.

Rekha Basu is a columnist for the Des Moines Register. Write her at 715 Locust St., Des Moines, IA 50309 or email her at rbasu@dmreg.com.