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Gabrielle Giffords 'Holding Her Own' As Gun Control, Jared Lee Loughner Take Center Stage

Paresh Dave |
January 11, 2011 | 10:34 a.m. PST

Executive Producer

File photo of Giffords chatting at the University of Arizona, where President Barack Obama will speak from on Wednesday evening. (Creative Commons)
File photo of Giffords chatting at the University of Arizona, where President Barack Obama will speak from on Wednesday evening. (Creative Commons)

Docotors in Tucson reported no new swelling in the head of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on Tuesday morning, which according to them is a good thing.

Giffords has been hospitalized since Saturday, when she was shot in the head at close range during a gathering with constituients at a grocery store. Her chances of recovery remain impossible to predict, doctors said.

She tried to pull out her breathing tube at one point--another positive sign--and is kind of breathing on her own. Giffords, 40, could remain in the intensive care unit for another week. Six victims remain in the hospital, one in critical condition, three in serious condition, and two in fair condition.

The man who attempted to assassinate the Arizona Democrat, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, is being held with bail at a Phoenix jail. He faces two counts of murder and three other federal charges.

If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty. Since a federal judge from Arizona was murdered in the rampage, Loughner's two public defenders are trying to move his case out of Arizona. It seems as though their demand will be met; Arizona's federal court ordered Tuesday the recusal of all its judges and magistrates from the case.  

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that anyone at the community college Loughner dropped out from could have reported his erratic behavior to mental health authorities; however, no one ever did. A report in TIME magazine has pegged Loughner as a "habitual" smoker of marijuana.

Accounts of his drug use, including his denial from military service because of it, have sparked outrage and controversy over whether he should even been able to buy a gun. Advocates of gun bans are saying the federal government isn't fulfilling its gun control duties. In Washington, D.C., some lawmkers are quickly huddling to figure out how they can capitalize on the shooting to further gun control measures.

Other lawmakers in the House want the 5 percent office budget cut they just voted for reversed, so they can spent 10 percent more on personal security.

Over at Slate, Jacob Weisberg explains that the idea of the federal government's illegitimacy purported by groups such as the Tea Party may have not motivated Loughner, but they surely created an environment in which actions could not be prevented.

A few reports have begun to paint Tucson, and specifically the street Loughner grew up on, as well-formed examples of the nation's political divide.

President Barack Obama will address a memorial service for the shooting victims at 5 p.m. PST Wednesday, perhaps calling for cohesion and tolerance.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer will a sign bill either Tuesday or Wednesday that bans public displays within 300 feet of funeral services. The legislation is aimed at stopping members of the Westboro Baptist church from protesting outside of funeral services for shooting victims.

Reach executive producer Paresh Dave here. Follow him on Twitter: @peard33.



 

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