CHUGIAK, ALASKA ¨C It was day two of Gabrielle Giffords¡¯ whirlwind nationwide tour to revive the push for tougher gun laws. The former congresswoman¡¯s husband, Mark Kelly, woke up early, placed his black case of firearms into the car trunk and raced across a vast stretch of Alaskan highway to practice target shooting.
If the gun debate were a war, then Kelly was breaching enemy territory. Reporters were asked not to disclose the name of the shooting range because its owners did not want it linked with Giffords¡¯ ¡°Rights and Responsibilities¡± tour. The awning that shielded Kelly as he loaded his weapons sported a sign thanking one of the range¡¯s key sponsors: Friends of the National Rifle Association.
Kelly, a former astronaut and fighter pilot, fired away ¡ª first with a shotgun and later with a Winchester Model 70, an iconic hunting rifle that¡¯s powerful enough to kill caribou.
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