Last weekend, Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed at their home, a targeted attack by a man impersonating a police officer.

The attack comes amid a rise in political violence.

Last year, alone, Capitol Police investigated more than 9,000 threats against members of the U.S. Congress.

This week, an email landed in my inbox, subject line, an assassination in Minnesota.

The email was a fundraising pitch to support efforts by Democrats to fight gun violence.

What caught my eye was who was making the pitch. Gabby Giffords, the former

Arizona congresswoman, who, as her email notes, knows the horror of a targeted shooting all too well.

County's going to be working a shooting. We've been informed Gabriel Giffords is involved.

The shooting left six people dead, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl.

And injured 13 others, including Gabby Gifford.

Police say he shot 14 others, including the Congresswoman, before bystanders tackled him.

In 2011, Giffords, a Democrat, was shot in the head at a constituent event outside Tucson.

Since then, Giffords has dedicated her life to calling for action on gun

control. I'm Gabby Giffords. I'm from Tucson, Arizona. January 8th, 2011 changed my life forever. I was a

congresswoman. I was shot in my head while me was a constituent. I couldn't walk. I couldn't talk.

That's Giffords speaking with me in 2022 after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

She has recovered from her wounds, but Giffords does not have full use of the right side of her body.

And she struggles with speech, with language.

Our lives can change so quickly.

Minded when I was shot.

But I never gave hope.

I chose to make a new start to move ahead, to not look back.

...