Giffords Knew She Might Be Shot, Says Husband

In a long interview, Gabrielle Giffords‘s husband Mark Kelly said his wife predicted she might be shot — and added that he hoped she didn’t return to Congress.

Kelly told Diane Sawyer that he and Giffords had talked multiple times about the possibility of violence — she said to him, “Someday I’m really worried that somebody’s going to come up to me at one of these events with a gun.” He also doesn’t want her to return to Congress if and when she gets better. He adds, however,

I know that’s probably not going to matter to her. I think she’s such a devoted public servant that she’s going to come out of this and be more resolved to fix things, to make things better for people.

Kelly also says that Giffords “will make a full recovery,” and when she does,

I can almost guarantee you what her first event will be. I’d be shocked if the first thing she does is not Congress on Your Corner at that Safeway. That’s the kind of person she is.

His faith in his wife and her commitment to her job is admirable, but it’s pretty disturbing that their current ordeal is something they both, in some way, foresaw. Kelly says he doesn’t blame the country’s political atmosphere for his wife’s shooting — he says, “It didn’t cause Jared Loughner to, you know, to plan this attack. … I think you have somebody that’s really, really disturbed, possibly schizophrenic” — but it’s clear that both spouses knew Giffords’s job put her in harm’s way. And if members of Congress have to take their lives in their hands every time they talk to their constituents, something’s very wrong.

Exclusive: Gabrielle Giffords’ Husband Mark Kelly Says She Feared She Would Be Shot [ABC]
Giffords’ Husband: ‘She Will Make A Full Recovery’ [USA Today]