Gabrielle Giffords to receive JFK Profile in Courage Award

Updated: Friday, 08 Mar 2013, 9:56 AM EST
Published : Friday, 08 Mar 2013, 9:56 AM EST

BOSTON (AP) - Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has been named this year's recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award.

The JFK Library and Museum announced Friday that the Arizona Democrat is being honored for the "political, personal, and physical courage she has demonstrated in her fearless public advocacy for policy reforms aimed at reducing gun violence."

Giffords and 18 others were shot during a constituent meeting she was holding in a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Ariz., in January 2011. Six people died, including a judge, one of Giffords' staffers and a 9-year-old girl.

The award is presented annually to public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences.

President Kennedy's daughter, Caroline, will present the award May 5.

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