Mucarsel-Powell Joins Giffords' 'Courage' Gun Violence Movement

Although Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D) lost her reelection campaign in Florida’s 26th Congressional district, she’s been rumored to be eyeing another run for office in the upcoming 2022 election. Now focusing on tackling gun control, Mucarsel-Powell has joined Giffords Courage, an organization dedicated to saving lives “in the grip of a gun violence epidemic.”

Calling it her “life mission,” she has taken the rank of Senior advisor for Giffords Courage, adding that “this is personal for Gabby as it is for me.” 

“Together we’ll make sure we do everything we can to protect our children from gun violence,” she expressed on Twitter.

In 1996, Mucarsel Powell lost her father to gun violence, sharing that “the image of seeing my father laying there with gunshot wounds are very traumatic.”

In her new position as Senior advisor, Mucarsel-Powell says that she is committed to ensuring that a divided Senate passes gun safety legislation like the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021. 

Gifford’s Courage is named after Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords (D), a gun control advocate who stepped down from office after suffering a brain injury during an assassination attempt.

Peter Ambler, Giffords Executive Director, praised the addition of Mucarsel-Powell to the team, expressing that “Debbie is a powerful leader in South Florida that we worked with for a long time.” “We worked with her as a candidate, we were worked with her as a Congresswoman,” he added.

When asked by the Floridian if she had any future plans of running for office, Mucarsel-Powell simply said, “I’m not sure what I want to do yet.”

When Mucarsel-Powell was younger and living in Ecuador, her father was shot and killed by a criminal.